Death Play
by StarlightWeavers
Summary: Tezuka only wanted a normal life. But how can life be normal when he had the power to cause pain, and when he loved  and lusted after  his brother who walks in Death?
1. I Tezuka Syusuke

Lia: A little background of this story: Issa wrote it after she (tried to) steal my sister's Maid Sama DVD. She ended up taking the Alice Academy one and playing it (I don't know how she could've made the mistake, considering there was a BIG, FAT Alice Academy label on the DVD, but she made the mistake). After watching I don't know how many episodes, she was suddenly all like: Lia, wouldn't it be AWESOME if the POT characters had alices? So, this happened. Anyways, please enjoy the first installation. (Issa is too nervous to talk right now. This is the first time other people aside from me will be reading her stories)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia, Clary's not-editor

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><p><strong>I<strong>**. TEZUKA SYUSUKE**

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><p>"I don't know why, but I feel like I'm not at all satisfied."<p>

Seventeen year old Tezuka Kunimitsu turned from where he was contemplating all the dead people they themselves have killed to watch his companion through steel-rimmed glasses.

Of course Atobe Keigo wasn't satisfied. He was a narcissist, amongst other things and even though they had just killed off trained soldiers the number of a regiment (or two), he can't find it in himself to be satisfied because he was only ever satisfied if he got to show off 'ore-sama's prowess' and be worshipped for it. He was never satisfied when he had to put a plug on his alice because they've been ordered to not completely incinerate their targets the way Atobe wanted to because said targets needed to be recognizable to be able to serve their purpose as fair warning to the enemies of the Academy.

Like now.

In all truth, Atobe still would've incinerated their targets the moment Persona's back was turned and damn the consequences because everyone has to be 'awed by the sight of ore-sama's prowess,' so damn Persona and what _he _wants, ore-sama needn't be bothered by plebeians and their petty plebeian wishes. But Tezuka was a stickler for rules and Atobe knew it and Persona knew that Atobe knew it and Atobe respected (feared) Tezuka's alice enough to even consider not following Persona's orders to the letter.

And just because he was Atobe, he added, "No offense, Tezuka, but I wish we weren't on the same team right now."

He meant every kind of offense, of course, and they both knew it but Tezuka didn't say anything because he _was_ Tezuka and Tezuka never says anything even remotely derogatory.

... Then again, this was Atobe and Atobe was an exception for everything.

Still, Tezuka was spared from even answering because Yukimura Seiichi picked that exact opportune moment to saunter up to them, wearing a very, very satisfied smile.

It seemed that he got the gist of what they were talking about because the moment he sidled up to Atobe he said, and he gave a very, very sly smile before he said it, making Tezuka want to pinch the bridge of his nose because he knew that this would result in another headache (because Atobe Keigo was already a headache in and of himself), "Well, _I'm_ satisfied."

And of course, Yukimura Seiichi had every reason to be satisfied because _he_ wasn't the one ordered to keep a lid on _his_ alice and was allowed to just go on ahead and play with his shadows all he liked.

Atobe recognized this, and he also recognized that Yukimura was saying it just to antagonize him, like he always did (for Yukimura Seiichi antagonized _everyone_, except for maybe Syusuke, who he doted on) and he knew that he should just stalk away with all his dignity, but damn it, he was cranky and he never really like the guy in the first place, so, because he was Atobe, he said, "Get off my face, bitch."

Atobe never cursed, of course (out loud, anyway); he had proper upbringing but if Yukimura insisted on being a bitch, then he will be addressed as such, because ore-sama was just that damn honest.

Yukimura's smile turned poisonous, as it always did when Atobe said _that _word. "Who said _I_ was in your face? Who would want to be _in your face_, brat?

"No one calls ore-sama a brat!"

"Oh, but I just did," Yukimura replied, still with that poisonous smile, and because he still hasn't gotten the revenge he wanted, he said, again, "Brat."

"Ore-sama demands you stop calling him that!"

"Try and stop me... brat."

This time, Tezuka _did_ pinch the bridge of his nose. Atobe and Yukimura never hit off nicely, mostly because the two never had anything in common, so more often than not, they were bickering on one thing or another that were almost always, if not always, trivial issues. But since Persona let them be, no one else really bothered to stop them once they got going because no one else wanted to be in between two of the Dangerous Ability Type's most dangerous alice users when they were hell-bent on destruction, except for Tezuka, who fell under the same umbrella as them and was every bit as dangerous, if not more so. Therefore, whenever they were in missions together, or even in school (since _someone_ has to stop them before they destroy more than what was forgivable, even for Dangerous Ability Types) Tezuka found himself delegated to the job of refereeing one argument and the next and the next and the next.

It wasn't a very pleasant job.

And sometimes (like right now), Tezuka didn't feel like playing diplomat, so he turned around and began walking away. It wasn't like they have anything left, of consequence, to destroy, anyway, so he paused just enough to spare them one last glance and call out, "Come back to the Academy when you're done acting like children."

He refused to be disturbed by the sight of the growing flames around Atobe's area or of the shadows collecting themselves around a smirking Yukimura. He can be disturbed just enough to stop again and remind them to not damage the corpses, but not disturbed enough to stop their argument.

He supposed it was about time he let them off again, anyway, because if he didn't then it would be even harder to deal with them in school and he'd really rather not have them fight in front of his brother.

* * *

><p>It was getting on to be midnight when Tezuka slipped inside the huge suite that was his bedroom. From the huge floor-to-ceiling windows opposite the door, Tezuka could still see evidences that the battle between Yukimura and Atobe was still going on, and didn't look like it was letting off anytime soon.<p>

His only concern was that they probably won't end up in time to sleep _and_ be on time for class tomorrow, which started at eight. Well, Atobe, anyway. Yukimura, no matter how much, or how little sleep he got still managed to always be on time to every class and be praised in every single one of them. And Atobe, being Atobe, managed the way he always managed, and still found himself among the best four star students (like most of the Dangerous Ability Types because Persona demanded that all students under him needed the status and the dignity befitting the students under him) while maintaining a horrible attendance record and sleeping through the few classes which he deigned to attend.

Persona, and many other Dangerous Ability Types, found it amusing; Tezuka didn't.

Tezuka pinched the bridge of his nose again. He really needed a shower, and some aspirin before his head falls off.

Ten minutes later, Tezuka was ready to get to bed. He had on only loose pants because it was almost summer and getting quite hot and Tezuka disliked the airconditioning unit, which was always turned off (in his room, anyway).

...

Well, he can't honestly say he was surprised (though he can honestly say that he was dismayed, and rather distressed).

His brother was curled up in his bed, hugging one of its many plush pillows. His brother had his own room, of course, right beside Tezuka's own, actually, but Tezuka Syusuke, even before, when they were very young (when he didn't _mind_ it), had developed the habit of crawling into his older brother's bed at night because he claimed to sleep better when he was beside his brother.

When they were brought to the Academy, Tezuka had expected the habit to vanish, he'd _wished_ (very strongly) for that habit to vanish because of... _things_ he'd rather not think about, but Syusuke's trips to his room only got more and more frequent, especially during nights when Tezuka was out on missions, which, to be honest, happened almost every night.

Tezuka didn't particularly need to, not always, Persona has other favorites, but it was necessary. At least, in Tezuka's mind it was necessary, for Syusuke (and Tezuka's sanity and... _control_ and... no, stop, _stop_ right there).

Syusuke was a Dangerous Ability Type, like him, but, unlike him, Syusuke wasn't in Persona's inner circle of favorites. Tezuka couldn't say he was disappointed in Syusuke. In fact, if he felt anything about the fact that Persona hardly even knew that Syusuke existed, he was relieved and would even go so far to say that Persona didn't care for Syusuke because Tezuka went to great lengths to make sure that Persona _didn't_ care for Syusuke.

It wasn't particularly hard. The only Dangerous Ability Types that mattered to Persona were his favorites, the others he left well enough alone. Dangerous Ability Types, unlike the four other types didn't meet up weekly to 'share and be happy in each other's company'. They didn't need that guise. So, to Persona, the only members of the Dangerous Ability Type were the ones in his inner circle, nevermind what the Alice Academy higher ups said. Tezuka was in Persona's inner circle and Tezuka made very sure that Persona had more than enough reason to be satisfied with Tezuka. He took on more missions than necessary, and was brilliant in every one of them, so Persona wouldn't feel the need to go poking around Syusuke's records and find out that Tezuka's little brother had an alice that Persona very much liked.

Syusuke's alice wasn't one that was completely safe to its user. Tezuka knew, better than anyone, how Syusuke was stonger than he looked, but he was still altogether too weak, Syusuke had been born with a weak constitution, to begin with. Constant use of Syusuke's alice, which was what missions entailed, would be hazardous to Syusuke's life.

"Nii-san hasn't been sleeping," a rather sleepy voice said, as wide blue eyes peeked at him from under the pillow.

Tezuka smiled at the greeting. Technically, Tezuka was older, and he had given Syusuke his fair share of lectures, but sometimes, when Syusuke finds something unsatisfactory in Tezuka's behavior, Syusuke scolds, rather severely. It was amusing to think about it, a younger brother scolding the older, but Syusuke, lord knows how he does it, manages to look daunting even if he came up only to his older brother's shoulder.

One of the things Syusuke found fault in was his less-than-stellar sleep habits, which Syusuke never fails to give him grief about.

"Well, you're in my bed," Tezuka said, by way of explanation (because it explained _a lot_).

The blue eyes blinked once. Then, "It's altogether too big for one person, nii-san. That's not an excuse."

"It wasn't an excuse." But Tezuka climbed in anyway and spooned his brother to his chest, trying to convince himself that this was safe, this was _safe_, it was okay to hug his brother like this, many older brothers do, so it was _safe_. His brother's skin was cold against his own, even with the warming weather and the lack of aircondition.

In the darkness, Tezuka allowed himself a worried frown and buried his face on his brother's hair (because this, too, was safe, it was _okay_, it was _safe_). It smelled like honey and vanilla. "Go back to sleep." (_Please, _go back to sleep.)

"You, too," Syusuke replied, shifting so now, he faced his brother. Vaguely, Tezuka heard alarm bells ringing in his mind (this was safe, it was _okay_, it was _safe_). "You should sleep, nii-san. You can't grow if you don't sleep."

It was something mothers say to their children when children were five and stubborn. Tezuka wasn't a child but felt like a child, like he always did when Syusuke starts on his lectures. He didn't like the feeling.

"Did you finish your homework?" he asked, rather offhandedly. He knew the answer to the question, they both did, but it gave Tezuka the excuse to be big brother again (and to ignore, _ignore_ Syusuke's body pressed up against his), and right now, when he was feeling like a child (and feeling all these _feelings_ he'd rather forget about), Tezuka would have grabbed every excuse he could get.

"Mn," Syusuke replied, snuggling against Tezuka's chest (it was _safe_, it was _okay_, just think about something else, not... not the position they were in right now, _anything_ but the position they were in right now). "I almost didn't. Senri didn't. But Kuranosuke made me do it, so I did it."

It was incredible how Syusuke managed to be in first name terms with _everybody_, but he was and everyone who knew Syusuke doted on him. "You should listen to Shiraishi," Tezuka told him quietly. "Chitose only wants to have _fun_." And he was satisfied with how he made the word sound so offensive.

There was a breathy laugh. "Fun's not so bad, nii-san. Senri says it loosens you up. You need to loosen up."

Tezuka winced (because the images in his mind of what he _could_ and probably _would_ do if he 'loosened up' were too bad to even mention). What kind of nonsense has Chitose been pouring to his brother's head while he was gone _this_ time? "Chitose has a horrid definition of fun."

"Like not making homework?"

"And sleeping through classes," Tezuka filled in, stroking his brother's hair (it was _safe_, it was _okay_).

"Keigo sleeps through his classes," Syusuke pointed out. "He misses classes, too."

"I know," Tezuka replied. He'd been thinking about that very thing a while ago (before he was... _distracted_), actually. "That's why he and Chitose get along well."

"Senri has this theory that no matter what we do, we'd still be four star students at the top of the class. He thinks teachers are afraid of us Dangerous Ability Types, and would let us do whatever and won't give us grief for it."

Tezuka took a long time trying to find a suitable reply. In truth, Chitose was probably right. Atobe was top of the class because he was smart, even though he didn't pay attention, he was smart, and so was Chitose, Yukimura, Shiraishi, and Tezuka and Syusuke. But there were other Dangerous Types who didn't pay attention and didn't care and weren't as smart, but were still four star students (granted, not at the top of their class but _still, _four star was four star). Normal students who were like that would probably be lucky to scrape up a two-star rank but Dangerous Ability Types made it to three and four-star easily just because they were Dangerous Types. Teachers were afraid of them (or, more likely, of Persona) and their (or Persona's) abilities. Dangerous Types didn't talk about it and didn't flaunt it (they were more of the quiet, strong, deadly bunch) and teachers liked that they didn't flaunt it but it was always what happened and the arrangement worked out for both parties just fine. But his brother, who was probably the only Dangerous Type who didn't know it to begin with, didn't need to know it _now_.

"Chitose always liked his daydreams. Now go to sleep."

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><p>Chitose Senri was a shameless bastard, in Tezuka's opinion. Granted, he had a rather powerful alice and he was part of Persona's inner circle, like Tezuka, but Tezuka never liked the guy. Tezuka probably never would like him, so long as he insists on being shameless.<p>

Tezuka rather liked Chitose's best friend better, because Shiraishi Kuranosuke was proper in all ways proper was in Tezuka's own personal dictionary (which was saying something, considering how Tezuka had been brought up). He didn't exist to Persona, even though he had a powerful alice (because his alice had more disavantages than advantages), but Tezuka knew him because Chitose (and Syusuke) knew him. Tezuka didn't know how, but Shiraishi and Chitose were, by some miracle, best friends. Chitose was everything Shiraishi disliked and was not, but Shiraishi put up with him. To everyone else, Shiraishi was severe, if not apathetic but he put up with Chitose, had a soft spot for Syusuke (because everybody did) and tolerated Tezuka (most probably only because Tezuka was Syusuke's brother).

He gave Tezuka a nod when Tezuka went down to breakfast that morning and offered Syusuke a smile that probably only Syusuke was meant to see. Tezuka liked this greeting in comparison to Chitose's "Yo, Tezuka!" to him and "Sleep well, beautiful?" to his brother.

Was it just him or did Chitose Senri just hit on his brother?

Syusuke answered Chitose's question as they sat down and Tezuka, head still trying to make sense of said question wasn't able to hear the answer, but Syusuke must have unknowingly said something suggestive to Chitose's ears because the next moment, Chitose was staring at him with a quizzical frown which was slowly evolving to a smirk.

It was never something good, when Chitose smirked like that and he was right, because Chitose suddenly said, and with a self-satisfied tone, too, "Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"

If Tezuka hadn't been brought up the way he was brought up, his jaw would have dropped to the floor. At it was, Tezuka's eyes only narrowed behind his glasses and his lips pressed into a thin line. What did he mean _less than innocent intentions_? How could Tezuka even _have_ '_less than innocent intentions_'? Towards his own _brother_? Who was, by the way, currently blushing bright red and trying to make himself as small and as invisible as possible.

Tezuka really didn't talk much, and he rarely ever did get angry but for god's sake, he was going to give Chitose Senri a good talking to right now and set him damn straight. Don't get Tezuka wrong, he loved his brother. But not... _that_ way. Why would he even love his brother... _that_ way? He hadn't been thinking about _anyone else_... _that_ way, much less his _brother_, a person who, by definition, shared his DNA makeup. Tezuka wasn't Chitose Senri, so Tezuka wasn't shameless. Especially _that_ kind of shameless.

Wasn't he?

Tezuka froze, he _froze_, thinking of those nights, those nights when he... _those nights_. He barely noticed that Atobe had settled in his usual place beside Chitose in their table, and hearing only Chitose's question, smirked and because he was as shameless as Chitose, said, "Senri, people have got to be rocks to _not_ have less than innocent intentions towards that thing." And thus saying, he nodded to Syusuke with a sly grin that made Syusuke blush ten shades brighter.

"Keigo," Syusuke whined. "You _can't_ just say that to people."

Tezuka didn't know who was worse, Chitose or Atobe, but since Atobe was nearest him, he fixed Atobe with the hardest glare he could muster, and was quite pleased when Shiraishi, too, did the same to Chitose, who took one look at his best friend and deflated. Unfortunately, Tezuka had no such luck with Atobe.

"Why?" Atobe had the gall to ask. "It's the truth."

"Well, you still didn't have to _say_ it," Syusuke mumbled, completely intent on his scrambled eggs.

"Syusuke," Atobe said, managing to sound exasperated, though what he was exasperated about Tezuka didn't know. Tezuka continued glaring, his eyes promising hell if Atobe so much as opened his mouth again. Atobe glanced at him, smirked and ignored the warning. "It's a compliment. People feel flattered when other people give compliments. Compliments are _meant_ to be said out loud to people."

"... It's not a compliment."

"It _is_," Atobe insisted, smirk growing wider. "If I say 'Syusuke, your pores ooze sex appeal,' it's the truth and it's a compliment."

"No, it's not the truth. It could be a compliment, I think, but it's not the truth." Syusuke's voice sounded oddly subdued and Tezuka doubled the effort on the glare (because Atobe was coming closer and closer to... to... no, stop, _just stop_).

"Syusuke, it's you," Atobe said, looking for all the world like a parent teaching an exasperating child. "Probably half the people in this room watched you when you came in, and are still watching you now, because they are imagining in their head what it would feel like to strip you naked and fuck you against the nearest hard surface they could find."

"Atobe," Tezuka cut in, his voice with a sharp edge to it (stop, _stop_, don't_ think _about it). "I would very much like that you don't talk about my little brother like he's a sex toy." What Tezuka really wanted to say was 'fuck off' but Tezuka was proper and he really just couldn't bring himself to say those words in front of Syusuke. If Atobe continued talking this way, however, that will change, and very quickly.

Syusuke raised his head, his eyes wide, looking quite scandalized. At a loss for words, he turned to his brother. "_Nii-san..._"

"Atobe, you are so crude," Yukimura Seiichi commented, standing behind Syusuke. He kneeled down so his face was level with Syusuke's and took Syusuke's face between his hands and kissed his forehead. "Don't listen to anything he says, okay, Syusuke? Those are things that only horny, hormonal teenagers say and nobody listens to the trash that horny, hormonal teenagers talk about."

Syusuke nodded and managed a small smile but Atobe, who heard every word, was incensed.

"Are you implying that ore-sama's a horny, hormonal teenager? And that ore-sama talks trash?" Atobe demanded hotly.

"Well, who else could I be talking about?" Yukimura shot back, his expression morphing from gentle to glaring. "I don't hear anyone else talking about mind-raping Syusuke."

"Seiichi, _please_," Syusuke cut in, blushing again.

"It was a _hypothetical_!" Atobe exclaimed, sounding very much like a child.

"Oh? It didn't _seem_ like a hypothetical to _me_."

"Mind your own business, bitch!"

"Not when _you're_ being a horny brat, _Keigo_."

"Don't you _Keigo _ore-sama!"

"Why? I can't call you Keigo because you don't want to sleep with me?"

Atobe sputtered and his face reddened. Tezuka, despite himself, felt very, very gratified.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Atobe demanded, trying to draw what was left of his dignity around him like a cloak of protection. "And why the _hell_ would I want to sleep with _you_?"

Yukimura just gave Atobe a condescending smile that seemed like he was saying _'I've won this round and you know it'_ and turned to Syusuke, whispering words to his ear that seemed to be comforting him because a minute later, Syusuke's usual smile was back.

Tezuka was glad there was Yukimura because really, another moment and Tezuka would've strangled Atobe. He was a little jealous because, well, that was Tezuka's job, what Yukimura was doing right now, but Tezuka was never good at the comforting stuff and Yukimura was their cousin, anyway, so he had every right to be all comforting and supportive. Besides, Yukimura had shut Atobe up about the topic of Syusuke and... well, _that_, so he owed Yukimura one.

So, Tezuka did the next best thing, and that was to glare at Atobe, who was nursing his wounded pride by downing his coffee. And because Syusuke was listening to Yukimura right now and Tezuka still felt more than a little spiteful towards Atobe, he said, "Fuck off."

And even though the entire table turned to look at Tezuka with astonished, disbelieving glances, even Syusuke, whose eyes were wider than he ever remembered them being, it was well worth seeing Atobe choke on his coffee and spit it out on his newly-pressed uniform.

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><p>Lia: That's pretty much it. Issa is biting her nails off with anxiety.<p>

**CLARY (NOT ISSA)**: (No comment, Lia, I'm giving you the cold shoulder and I DO NOT bite my nails!) Persona is, I think, OOC here because he was the Dangerous Type teacher and I didn't want to change it, but I wanted a more amusing character, so yeah~ (On that note, so is Syusuke and maybe Chitose)

Lia: I did not edit this, by the way. I just read it (thrice), and told her she had a serious problem with punctuations and sentences (I don't know how she doesn't fail English). She didn't listen, of course.

Clary: That's because IT'S FINE, just the way it is.

Lia: She also has a problem with profanities. I forgot to mention that.

Clary: That's a compliment~

Anyways~ review, please~~~


	2. II  Care Care

Clary: Thanks to all you guys who read the first chapter~ And thanks for sticking with me, no matter how amateur my writing skills are~ Oh, and I'M SORRY for not saying that they're all in Alice Academy. I suck at writing summaries.

But anyway~ Here's the next chapter!

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Fadey (we love the part when Tezuka cussed, too!) and Alatarielf (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

**II****. CARE CARE**

In total, they had destroyed what had once been two regiments of trained soldiers of an elite task force. Over half a million people all in all, gone, killed by _students_ in just one night.

He'd trained – or at least, watched over and monitored – those soldiers himself. And damn it, he thought them to be ready against anything, but apperently, he was wonderfully mistaken.

Defeated by _students_. Killed by _students_. Granted, students with powerful alices, but still _students_. Young, inexperienced and untrained.

The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth that he really didn't like because it made him feel inadequate and he rarely, if at all, felt inadequate and he never liked feeling inadequate.

Persona was _mocking_ him, no one had ever the guts to mock him before, and he didn't at all like the feeling. _No one_ mocked him. Especially not a damn _teacher_ of an academy that cloistered and coddled _special_ little kids and taught them how to _embrace_ their powers and how special and precious they all were.

It made him sick.

Damn him and his precious little students to hell and back. In fact, damn the entire Academy. Damn all its teachers, all its _talented_ students, damn all the people who made the damn Academy possible in the first place. And now that he was on it, damn the whole _fucking _world.

He threw the cut crystal glass that, just a day ago he had rather liked, against the wall and the wine bottle soon followed suit. The stain was hardly visible against the red wallpaper but he could see the liquid dribbling down the wall to his carpet. He hoped the housekeeping staff was going to have a damn hard time trying to clean _that_, and they knew they had to clean it, else he'd fire them and get a more efficient staff that wouldn't be put out by some stupid wine stain.

The way his two regiments were easily put out by Persona and his damn students.

He wanted to throw something again.

"_Mou_," a female voice whined from behind, putting so much emphasis on the last syllable of the word. "That glass was from a set I asked to ship from _Italy_. And the wine was from _Belgium_, like you asked. Do you know how much trouble it took me to get a glass set from Italy and wine from Belgium?"

Frankly, he could have cared less where the hell she got those things. She could've gotten it from the moon, for all he cared, and it would still have served the same purpose as something to throw when he was playing target practice against the wall. And he knew that Tsuwabuki Hinako _knew_ that he hardly cared but Hinako was a child and she whined and he didn't know why he _let her_ but he did and it was now giving him a headache.

"Don't whine," he said for the first time in his memory, and then, since he had gotten on with it anyway, he added, "You're such a child, Hinako."

"I am _not _a child!" came the retort, just as he had expected it to.

"You whine like one," he told her, straightening up and fixing his suit because even though he was only in front of the child Hinako, he didn't want some rumor about something or the other that he knew Hinako would spread around precisely because she was a child and he'd just told her that she was in her face.

"Mou, Ashikaga-san, I _do_ not whine," she said, stomping her way to the couch located on the far end of the room, just like a child would. "I had trouble with customs for the set and it's not very easy to talk to a _Belgian_ wine grower who thinks he's the best thing that happened to wine since grapes _either_. Have you ever _tried_ talking to a Belgian who thinks he's the best thing that happened to wine ever since grapes?"

He didn't deign to give _that_ an answer because he hardly cared about Belgians who think they're the best thing that happened to wine ever since grapes apart from the fact that they made him wine that would keep his sanity intact and get Hinako sufficiently knocked up so she didn't have to whine to him anymore, to hell what the law says about underaged drinking (though she, technically, wasn't underage).

"Where is Chizuru?" he asked, because it was Chizuru's job to listen to Hinako whine and keep her in line and frankly, he had far less headaches when he dealt with Chizuru and that did wonders to his sanity.

Hinako stuck her tongue out at him as she plopped down the couch and reached for a candy on the crystal bowl which, if he remembered correctly, Chizuru had gotten for him with far more efficiency and far less whines than Hinako, who whined as much as she was efficient.

"She's off to get records from Alice Academy, following _your _orders," Hinako said, more interested with a _lollipop_ than their actual conversation. "Oh, and I was sent up here, by the way. I didn't randomly decide to barge in on your office and watch you throw things that _I _had a damn hard time getting. Murakami-nii wants you downstairs. He wants you to check on their progress."

And the news, despite coming from the mouth of a child chewing on candy, washed over him with a great wave of satisfaction.

Soon what he'd been waiting for _months _would finally be on hand. Persona had done good in sending a warning with his two regiments but it came way too late.

Persona didn't know that, it was one thing he had that Persona and his precious students didn't, and he felt satisfied. He could damn that entire Academy to hell in the literal sense and get the revenge that was many, many years late, but would be equally as sweet, if not more so. He could, and he would.

_Just wait, Persona. Soon, it would be_ me _mocking_ you.

He opened the door to the hall from his office, feeling peversely happy. He turned to look at Hinako, still sitting on the couch with the lollipop, the straps of her black dress falling down her shoulders, her knees drawn up to her chest.

"Get me more wine," he ordered. "From France, this time. And I don't want to hear about French people who think that they're the best thing that happened to wine since grapes or customs. If they bother you that much, kill them, if you like."

"Can I kill that Belgian?" she asked, straightening in the couch, looking away from the candy to him.

"No, I like his wine."

And he closed the door before he could hear her whine.

./.

Keigo wanted to skip _again_.

And, for the first time _ever_ in his life, Tezuka Syusuke actually _wanted_ him to skip. He'd spent half of his life harping on Keigo about playing hooky to almost every class he had but today, he'd very gladly push Keigo out of the classroom if it meant that he wouldn't have to look at him in the eye or sit beside him for an entire hour and a half. He'd gladly push Keigo out of _every_ _one_ of the classes they had together if it meant he didn't have to deal with him for the entire day.

His cheeks were still burning as it is.

His every word was still ringing in Syusuke's ears and their volume only intensified every time he so much as looked at Keigo. He would have not given Keigo grief about skipping, just his luck that they had first period _together_, and honestly, the next time he would have seen Keigo would have been all too soon.

Unfortunately, Seiichi said _something_ to Keigo, he didn't know what, but somehow, after Keigo stomped back to his room to change clothes, and possibly bathe, he showed up to their classroom, more than a half-hour late, and irritated, but still _present_.

Syusuke's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to Seiichi seated beside him wearing a victorious smirk.

_What did he tell Keigo?_

Syusuke had spent many, many hours of probably every single day of his life lecturing, begging, threatening and getting mad at Keigo for skipping but Keigo only ever listened to him _occassionally_, when it suited him and certainly not when Syusuke wanted him to.

But one sentence, _one sentence!_, from Seiichi and Keigo shows up late to a class he hated on the day that their teacher was _not present_ and had left the entirety of her class to a self-study, which meant that everyone was currently doing whatever and not giving crap about what anyone else was doing.

One sentence from Seiichi and Keigo shows up to a class Syusuke wished he'd skipped.

He saw Keigo moving towards them and Syusuke eyes immediately relocated to his desk. He and Seiichi had been playing chess, the board was on Seiichi's desk, which was beside his own, but he could care less that Seiichi had just gotten his queen on check now that Keigo was _walking towards them_.

His cheeks were burning.

"Ah, you showed up," he heard Seiichi say, and there was a smirk in his voice, too.

Keigo gave a noncommittal grunt before he settled in his desk, more often than not, unoccupied because Keigo hated German and hated the teacher, and since he hated both things that could appeal him to a subject, he hardly ever bothered coming and this was probably the only class that he was in danger of failing (because the teacher was a strict, no-nonsense kind of woman and she, unlike other teachers, was not 'awed by ore-sama's prowess' and it was basically the reason why Keigo hated her and avoided her subject altogether).

Oh, God. What did he say to Keigo to _make him come here?_

"... Where's that _woman_?" Keigo asked, and Syusuke knew that he was fully expecting _him_ to answer because Keigo only ever addresses Seiichi when they're having one fight or another and most of them ended in the word ... .. ...bitch.

But it was just too bad for him that Syusuke was currently occupied by a speck of dust that just settled itself in his desk, and Syusuke rather liked watching said speck and he didn't want to lose it from his sight and answering Keigo entailed tearing his eyes from the speck and one moment of distraction would probably mean that he won't be able to notice where the speck had gone to, so no, he wasn't going to answer the question.

It didn't have anything to do with the fact that looking at Keigo's eyes would intensify the volume of his words that were running like a mantra in Syusuke's head right now.

Nothing at all. He liked the speck, and that was it.

"Really, _Keigo_, you expect him to talk to you after what you said this morning?" Seiichi asked, with still the same superior tone, and he said it in German, because he knew that Keigo would get annoyed.

And Keigo did get annoyed. Because the next moment, Syusuke heard him say, and in German but with a rather funny accent, "Shut your mouth, bitch."

Seiichi _laughed_ and if Syusuke wasn't still very embarrassed, he would have laughed, too, but he was embarrassed and still looking at the speck, so he didn't.

Reverting back to Japanese, Seiichi said, "Your German's atrocious, _Keigo_."

Of course Keigo's German was atrocious. He rarely went to class, and knew only about forty, maybe fifty words of the language, and most of them were insults, considering who he spent the period with (Seiichi... and Syusuke, who was mostly ignored in favor of arguing with Seiichi). Keigo complained that German was 'crude and guttural' and 'ore-sama does not need to learn such an unrefined language', though he did go to enough trouble to learn German for the words 'bitch', 'bitchy', 'bitchiness' and 'bitchily', which he all addressed to who he calls the only bitch in his German period, other than the teacher (Seiichi).

"Stop calling me Keigo!" And this was in Japanese, because probably the only word in the sentence that Keigo knew the German translation to was 'stop', which, in Keigo's German vocabulary, was often used in the sentence 'stop being such a bitch'.

Laughing, Seiichi turned to him and said something that would probably annoy Keigo, in German, so Keigo didn't understand, which would annoy Keigo more, but Syusuke didn't hear him, because he was busy looking at the speck. His entire concentration was in it, in fact.

"What did you say?" Keigo asked, loud enough for Syusuke to hear, and he would have sounded threatenting if he hadn't said it in German, with his funny accent. And because Seiichi only laughed, he turned to Syusuke and said, "What did he say?" this time in Japanese, as if he had learned his lesson.

Syusuke put more concentration to the speck.

Seiichi must've said something again, because the next moment, Keigo's hands were on his desk, covering the speck, demanding, "What did he _say_?"

"I don't know," he said, staring at Keigo's hands, not his face and _certainly_ not his eyes, the hands were bad enough because he knew who the hands were _attached_ to.

...This was probably the reason why nii-san is able to swallow an entire handful of aspirin without water after every mission he spent with both Seiichi and Keigo.

If he had to deal with this and act as mediator between the both of them, he'd feel like his head was going to explode, too.

He couldn't wait for second period with Senri and Kuranosuke.

./.

Contrary to popular belief, Persona _did_ care for the other members of the Academy.

Not care _care_, and not the way he cared when it came to the Dangerous Ability Types he sent on missions, but still, he cared.

Well, enough, anyway.

It was all the same to the other members of the Dangerous Ability Types he didn't send to missions. He didn't care _care_, he certainly didn't care enough to read their student records more than once, just to glance surreptitiously at what their alice was, or acknowledge their existence, which he knew was a responsibility, but he cared, sort of. Especially when they were somehow, in any way, connected to the Dangerous Ability Types he _cared_ about, whose records he had diligently read and spent so much time poring over.

It wasn't unequal treatment (it _wasn't_) and no one ever complained, so Persona kept it that way.

It was just too troublesome to learn about the people he couldn't make use of anyway. The purpose of the Dangerous Ability Type, as he saw it, was to be sent out on missions for the Academy, and as he was the teacher assigned to them, he led them. And some students who were Dangerous Ability Types he was very, very, very happy to have but there were also some who made him question what the hell the Academy was thinking when they put this kid under his jurisdiction.

Don't they get it? _Dangerous_ Ability Type. Not Blow the User Up Ability Type.

For heaven's sake, what use did he have for a kid who has a strong alice but can't control it and ends up hurting himself _with his own alice_ in the process? He wanted kids who could hurt the fucking enemy, not themselves, it doesn't serve the purpose of the damn ability type. He certainly didn't want kids who had too damn weak alices to be even sent out on missions.

Thinking about it over and over in his head just made him angry and, even though he normally liked it when he was angry, he didn't like it that he was angry because of the damn selection committee, which he can't touch, because he didn't even _know_ who they were.

So, the best remedy to the situation?

Care _care_ about those students he could make use of.

It worked rather well for him, but of course, he occassionally, had to expand his horizon, and care somewhat about those _other_ students who had a connection to the students he cared _cared_ about.

Because students sometimes needed motivation.

Take Tezuka Kunimitsu, for example. The Alice of _Pain_. It was one of the best alices he could have ever had and one of the most useful ones, too.

Damn it, the kid was talented. But the kid was quite reluctant at first to go to missions, his uptight morals _rejected_ violence.

So, Persona expanded. Tezuka Kunimitsu had a younger brother, also Dangerous Ability, but someone Persona hardly bothered about. He didn't even _read_ the kid's file, not once, because one look at the kid's picture immediately eradicated all interest Persona might have had on the younger brother. Persona didn't think it was even _possible_ to look that delicate, the kid looked like a damn girl and hell, had Persona not known better, he would've _mistaken_ the kid for a _girl_. Kid probably couldn't even last a minute in battle.

But the younger brother was still Dangerous Ability, under his jurisdiction, and he made sure that Tezuka _understood_ that he had control over the younger brother and dangled the fact in front of the kid like bait.

Kid took the bait, of course.

Now, he took more missions than Persona needed him to and did wonderfully in every last one of them. Needless to say, Persona was very pleased.

Because when Persona expanded, it was when he needed leverage, when he needed some strings to pull, some buttons to push to make his puppets move the way he wanted them to. And Persona always _did_ find leverage, because it was so easy to find strings to pull like that.

Which brought him to the issue at hand. Chitose Senri.

Another good alice, one that allows him to force his will upon others, very good for assassination missions, because then, they wouldn't even _need_ to cover up any incriminating evidence because it could all be just chalked up to suicide.

The problem was, the kid was too damn eccentric for his own good. And Persona, for the life of him, didn't _know_ how to shut the kid up. It was infuriating to _have_ this kind of alice, that, even to himself, he had to admit was valuable, but not be able to utilize it because of its user's damn attitude.

He suspected this behavior had been brought about by the company the kid kept, and yes, he knew that Atobe Keigo was eccentric but there was always Tezuka to keep him in line during missions.

Unfortunately, Chitose didn't have anything like _that_.

Well, he did, but he'd already decided he didn't _want_ Shiraishi Kuranosuke for his missions, because though he had an exceptional alice, it was those blow the user up types that he just _didn't need_.

He needed leverage.

He'd pored through the kid's records, checked and rechecked one too many times but found _nothing_. Well, there was Shiraishi Kuranosuke, who was scratched out of his list of possible leverages, and then, nothing.

It was infuriating.

Even more infuriating was the fact that since he hadn't been able to find leverage in paperwork, which he almost always did, he had taken to stalking and he never liked stalking because he wasn't some damn spy, those were his kids and he would've rather happily left the spying job to them.

First period was ditched in favor of sleeping on the roof, but when the warning bell rang for second period, the kid had lazily got to his feet and made for the gym.

PE, which he was late to. PE, which was doing some version of hide-and-seek, which was a child's game.

...

This was why Persona thought he was the only decent teacher in the Academy.

They were well into the game when the kid got there and, just as Persona expected, the Akita-sensei didn't even bat an eye.

But, to his great surprise, Shiraishi Kuranosuke did. He ran up from god knows where to Chitose and started lecturing him on something that probably had something to do with punctuality.

At first, Persona was amused. Then, as he noticed that _no other person_ was approaching the two, he started to get angry. Didn't the kid keep some other company?

Persona _always_ got what he wanted, it was a given fact, and Persona didn't have any recollections of a time when he _didn't _get what he wanted.

He slammed his fist on the tree trunk he had been leaning up against, knowing that the tree was withering. So were the bushes around him, and all he thought was _good_, because he wanted them to die, damn it.

He started to walk away, annoyed and incensed, but footsteps stopped him from taking another step. He leaned against the back of the now dead tree and waited.

./.

Kuranosuke had been in a bad mood for all of Phys Ed because Senri had the nerve to skip when Kuranosuke had clearly told him not to.

Then, Senri had shown up late and Syusuke didn't know whether it was better if Senri had just skipped or not.

Because while Kuranosuke didn't like it that Senri skipped, he most certainly despised tardiness.

He was probably yelling at Senri right now.

He hoped it wouldn't be _that_ bad. Senri never really liked being yelled at, he hated it and he usually spent the entire day afterwards sulking, which meant Senri skipping more classes and Kuranosuke being more mad.

He sighed.

He didn't even _know_ where he was going anymore and he wished he had went with Kuranosuke even if it meant having to watch the both of them yell at each other again. At least he wouldn't be _lost_.

Which he really was, he decided.

He never even recalled seeing these trees ever in his entire stay in the Academy. It was late spring, almost summer, so the trees should be in full bloom by now. He didn't know much about _trees_, he liked cacti and flowers better, but he at least, knew enough to know that trees, at this time of year, should be _alive_.

Or whatever you call it. They certainly weren't supposed to be dead. Withered.

Something tweaked at his senses and he stiffened.

He turned to the bushes, equally as withered as the trees, and slowly peaked underneath it.

Yep, he was right. A dead rabbit.

He supposed he should've expected that, with these plants dead and all, but the rabbit wasn't even supposed to _die_. He knew it, he knew that this rabbit was supposed to live a long, long life and this rabbit wasn't _supposed_ to be wandering in death this early a time.

He reached out to touch it, and sure enough, he felt its will and its strong life force keeping it from being dragged by the current of death's rivers.

He hesitated. He promised his brother he wouldn't do it, he _promised_, but this rabbit wasn't supposed to die yet, and well, no one was even around.

He looked around one last time before he bit back a guilty sigh and entered Death.

./.

Clary: TO ALL THE GERMANS READING THIS FIC, I AM SOOOOO SORRY! I didn't mean anything about Atobe's complaints with German, it's just that I needed a language that Tezuka should be good at and he went to Germany so... yeah... I LOVE GERMAN, HONESTLY~ TELL THEM, LIA.

Lia: She means she loves my brother's best friend, who's German and yes, Issa thinks that German is a very sexy language.

Clary: That's because it IS. It is very hot. I wanna make out with a German guy.

Lia: You mean you wanna make out with Rien's best friend.

Clary: ...(blush) Well... yeah... but other German guys count too. They are hot.

Lia: Rien and his friends went here for their vacation once. Issa was all like 'Oh my god! German guys!' and then she asked Rien if he didn't feel like an outsider being the only French guy in their little group. I told her she was rude.

Clary: I wasn't rude! It was a perfectly legitimate question. I mean there were all of your brother's German friends, and then there was your brother. I mean, didn't Germany and France fight somewhere in the history of the world...? (Right...?)

Lia: Issa, Rien, just like me and just like Elle, is half-French. Our dad is American. How many times do I have to say this?

Clary: For all the contact you guys had with your dad, you could just all be full-blooded French people who happened to live in the Philippines and Germany, in Rien's case. (HAH. My reasoning is perfect)

Lia: Whatever, Issa. Anyway, during Rien's visit, Issa got totally hung up on my brother's best friend.

Clary: He calls me Fraulein~~~~~~~~ Isn't that soooo sweet~~~~~~~~ (fangirl scream)

Lia: Issa, Fraulein means miss or young lady. Of _course_, he'd call you Fraulein. It's called BEING POLITE. You should try it sometime. (You know, instead of being all rude and racist)

Clary: You're just jealous he likes me. (sticks tongue out at Lia)

Lia: (Issa, you're making a big deal out of things again. You are impossible.) Since Issa is currently unavailable now, considering she's back to her daydreams of her crush coming to sweep her off her feet to a beautiful German castle, I'll say it: Please review, and make this lovesick author happy. (PLEASE. Issa is very, very hard to deal with when she's fantasizing about happily ever after.)


	3. III Death Walker

**WARNINGS:** Mentions of ummm... how to say it... mature content (?) in last scene. Be warned.

Clary: Hmmm... Maybe we should have made this Rated M?

Lia: I _told_ you to. You wouldn't listen to me.

Clary: But they're NOT going to have sex here or anything. The farthest thing they could possibly get is _kissing _and... well, thinking about _it_, as with the case of this chapter's last scene. That's NOT a Rated M thing, I think.

Lia: You and I both know why 'they're not going to have sex or anything'.

Clary: SHUT UP, LIA! (covers Lia's mouth and gets Lia's fingers away from computer)

Lia: ...

Clary: PLEASE, don't mind her. Don't mind what she said AT ALL. So, here's the next chapter! Please enjoy~

Lia: And don't worry. I made Issa delete (or rewrite) most of her 'mature content' so it should be relatively safe. We put the warning up just in case.

Clary: (: Yey~

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Alatarielf (Oh my god, we love you!), neumegami (thank you so, so much, we hearts the pictures~~~~ they were SUPER AWESOME (especially the second one~), phoenixfirekitsune (thank you, and we haven't seen Alice Academy very much, either, haha~)

* * *

><p><strong>III<strong>**. DEATH WALKER**

* * *

><p>Death, to Syusuke, wasn't the black tunnel with the light in the end that would bring you to heaven or anything of the sort. In fact, the first time he heard about the expression, he had laughed outright, and it had brought an amused smirk to even his nii-san, who was the only one, at that time, Syusuke had confided his alice to.<p>

Death was a river, rushing, flowing water and all, with gates signifying how close a person was to true death, to the ninth and last gate.

It wasn't any different from the last time he entered it almost a year ago, but he supposed that it would always be the same, anyway, death was a constant thing and so was its river. Light was bleak, as it always was, and the sky was as grey as he remembered it being. The current in this part of the river was strong, and the water cold, eagerly trying to pull him over and carry him to true death that came through the passing of the Ninth Gate.

It didn't, though. Syusuke's alice afforded him protection from these waters, though it didn't stop the waters from taking away what color had returned to his skin during the year he hadn't entered it.

He was going to have a hard time explaining this away to nii-san tonight. He supposed he could sleep in his own room, for once, nii-san would probably like the break and some color would return during the night, along with some excuse as to why he was paler than he usually was. He wouldn't like it, he hated sleeping alone, it didn't make him feel better from the nightmares he had, the nightmares that had haunted him ever since the first time he had entered death. He never told his nii-san, of course, it would only make him worry more than he already did, but he felt infinitely better, knowing when he'd wake up, nii-san would be there, sleeping soundly, near enough for him to touch, near enough to draw calm and comfort from.

He supposed he could stand one night. Or two, just in case, though three nights would kill him, or make him go crazy, whichever one came first.

He could see the First Gate in the distance, a veil of mist with a single dark opening, the river waters flowing through to the silence beyond. He didn't know how he came by with this information, he was born with it, he supposed, the same way he was born with the alice.

He hadn't been _aware_ of the knowledge, just that it existed and the first time he entered death, when he was three, he knew, instinctively, that that veil of mist was the First Gate, and that he shouldn't pass through the Ninth, not if he didn't want to die.

He'd seen the Ninth Gate, though, he had when he was seven. He and his nii-san were in the Academy then, when the news of their parents' death reached them and Syusuke, in his grief, flung himself to death, ran wildly along the river, passing different Gates, using the knowledge that was so instinctual to him, looking for signs that his parents might still be alive, hoping he could bring them back.

He'd been too late, all he saw was his mother's long, brown hair, before it, too, passed through the Ninth Gate, whose waters were roaring loudly, signifying that there were people, _his parents_, that had just passed on to true death.

He'd spent the next few hours screaming at the void, calling for his parents to come back, for the gate to _give them back_, screaming and screaming until there was nothing left to scream with. He'd trudged back to life so consumed with grief and woken up to find himself clutched in his brother's arms, his nii-san crying, for probably the first time in Syusuke's life, begging him to _please_ come back, Syusuke was all he had left.

Then, he spent the next few months being sick. But it was all well and good, he was back and slowly, _slowly_, things went back to normal, or as normal as it could be, with nii-san taking on more missions than he could possibly handle and becoming overly paranoid about his trips to death.

There wasn't much to hope for, after all, from two kids who had lost their entire family.

... Ah, there it was.

It was a good thing it hadn't passed through the First Gate yet, still busily clinging at one of the few rocks that dotted the river. Maybe it was the reason why the current was stronger than he remembered, or maybe he hadn't entered death for so long he had forgotten, but at any rate, Syusuke was relieved he didn't have to pass through the First Gate to get the rabbit's soul.

Repercussions of bringing back a soul that has passed through the First Gate was... bad. Not to him, but to the soul he brought back. It was one of the things he inherently knew, and he didn't want to _think_ about it, he never wanted to know it in the first place.

He calmly walked towards the still-clinging-for-life rabbit, the water merely a sensation in his ankles, though he knew it couldn't be the same for this poor animal. He reached out towards it, clutching it with both hands as it struggled, feeling the weakness of its soul, the drain it felt because of death's leeching waters.

It was slowly getting stronger, though, away from the waters like this, and Syusuke was glad as he walked happily back to life, knowing that at least, this time, he was able to save what he meant to save.

./.

The boy was Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother.

He remembered and recognized him because Persona somehow knew that it was physically impossible for anyone else in the whole damn world to look so much like a fucking _girl_. Sometimes, Persona just questioned the sanity of whoever it was arranging the universe.

A male should look like a male, damn it, and not like some girly, pretty female.

... He _did not_ just think _that_.

Just the thought of _him_ coming on to his student's little brother, not to mention his student's little _male_ brother, _not to mention_ his student's little male _underaged_ brother had him... Oh, god, he really needed to get laid.

But just before he could further contemplate the thought, the kid had sharply turned to a rather unassuming (withered) bush and brushed it aside, revealing a dead rabbit.

He _did not care_, of course he did not care, he didn't care about more than half of his fucking _students_, for crying out loud, why would he care for some dead animal that just happened to get in his fucking way?

Nor did he care that Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother apparently cared, so what, the rabbit was _dead_, and there was nothing the kid can do about it, aside from, probably, burying its corpse, which, if it happened, would make Persona start questioning the world's sanity, because then, Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother would have not only looked like a girl, he'd have _acted_ like a girl, too, and if that wouldn't make _anyone_, let alone Persona, question the sanity of _anything_, he didn't know what would.

But he didn't do what Persona had expected him to, he started to do it, yes, but just as his hands touched the dead rabbit, he keeled over in a faint.

At the very least, if anything, Persona knew that he was right about not wanting this kid for _his_ Dangerous Types.

He started walking towards the kid, and abruptly paused, wondering why the hell he even cared. He didn't, of course, he told himself, he hardly cared about _anybody_, not to mention some girly kid that happened to be his only fucking (and completely irreplaceable) leverage over his best student.

... Shit.

But before he could even berate himself for his carelessness, _what kind of person would be stupid enough to damage the person he used to pull the strings of his finest puppet?_, the kid had started stirring to wakefulness. He hid himself in the shadows once more, watching the kid rise, with a now struggling, very much alive rabbit in his hands.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Persona heard, through the whirling tornado of thoughts in his brain. His heart was slamming forcefully against his ribs, adrenalin washing over his body in a great wave, and suddenly, he forgot about his frustration with Chitose Senri, he forgot about where he was, about _everything_, but this kid who had been able to, for some reason, bring the dead back to life.

And the rabbit _had _been dead, Persona killed it himself, and Persona _never_ failed at killing something if he wanted to, it was one of the things he never failed at (but then again, he never failed at _anything_) and probably the only thing that filled him with so much relish.

For the first time in a long time, Persona felt _excited_.

He allowed himself a slow, wondering, sly smile before he left for his office to do some long-postponed research.

./.

Syusuke learned, the hard way, that entering death so abrubtly after not doing so in nearly a year, and bringing a soul back with him, to top it off (albeit a soul of a small animal, but still a soul) was not the brightest of all ideas.

He was fine, at first, and so was the rabbit, nice and alive. He'd met up with Kuranosuke and Senri at the end of Phys Ed, said hi, and yes, he was okay and it wasn't that big a deal that they left him alone and no, he most certainly _did not_ get lost (even though he did, sort of).

He managed through the entire morning classes with just the smallest of discomforts, ate lunch with Seiichi, who had the same lunch period as him, and had made it halfway to his next class before he felt like he wanted to puke.

He ran, almost blindly (and it was lucky that there were no people in the halls at that time of day), and got to his room, then his en suite bathroom safely, before he hurled himself next to the toilet and threw up his entire lunch, and proceeded to spend his entire afternoon draped in the pristine tiles of his luxurious bathroom, his forehead pressed against the toilet's cool surface. He had felt like throwing up enough times that afternoon to last him a lifetime, and he vowed to himself, promise to his brother or not, that he was never, _never_ going to stay away from death as long as he did.

Of course, since he hadn't eaten much during lunch, and he didn't eat a lot to begin with, his body soon realized that it didn't have anything left in it to throw up with, that had been an hour or so ago, he didn't really know, he was too dizzy and sick to care, but now, when he felt the urge to throw up again, he heaved himself up a little bit before he realized that he was _retching_. He'd retched a couple of times before, had more than his fair share of the experience, actually, things like that happen when you're in constant contact with death, but he'd never liked it and he suspected he wouldn't start liking it _now_, especially not now, when it was _freezing cold_ (how could it be cold when it was almost summer?), when he was dizzy and when he'd spent the last six hours heaving his guts to a toilet.

It wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.

And somehow, even though he knew it would lead to a long, long, _long_ lecture, he wanted his nii-san _here_, right now, with him, there was no one else, _no one else_ he wanted here with him, no one else would _do_, but it hurt too much to even reach for his phone in his bag, flung all the way across the bathroom.

The other only alternative was sleep, which he didn't want, he didn't want the nightmares, not when he was sick like this, _especially_ not when he was sick like this because nightmares that happened when he was at his weakest were always the worst.

_Emaciated corpses walking towards him, _always _towards him, men, women, children, the smell of blood, a river of blood, a wave of blood, droplets steadily dripping, _drip drip drip_, never stopping, darkness, always darkness, his parents, his _parents_, his mother's screams, so loud, so, so loud..._

It took him a while to notice that he was screaming along with her.

./.

He was stubborn, but by the time six o' clock had come and gone, Tezuka finally got his head wrapped around the thought that glaring at his door wouldn't make it open with Syusuke at his doorstep, asking to sleep in his bed.

Somehow, he was glad, he was worried, _of course_ he would be worried, but he was glad.

He didn't have any classes with Syusuke, because Syusuke was a year behind him. He could've had German with Syusuke, like Yukimura and Atobe (who barely even went, so he didn't count) who were the same year as Tezuka but Tezuka was a master at German and he didn't feel the need to spend an hour and a half of every other day learning things he already knew just so he could hover over his brother when that same time could've been better spent at a more constructive elective class.

Besides, Yukimura had eaten lunch with Syusuke and had said it was all fine.

He should stop worrying over _Syusuke_, and start worrying about his, well, _It_... But he just didn't want to think about... He _didn't_.

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

He'd thought about that over and over, he'd thought about his initial reaction, the conversation and he was exhausted because... because...

Because what if his reaction was only because it was the honorable, the _right_ thing to think?

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

A lot of people, all those who _knew _them, anyway, looked at Syusuke all of once and... _commented_ on his looks. A lot of people called Syusuke beautiful. A lot of people looked at Syusuke like... like...

"_Probably half the people in this room watched you when you came in, and are still watching you now, because they are imagining in their head what it would feel like to strip you naked and fuck you against the nearest hard surface they could find."_

And Tezuka, because it was the honorable and _right_ thing to do, promised to himself that he'd defend Syusuke from those people, and he wanted to, heaven knows how much he wanted to... but... but what if it was _hard_?

...What if... what if it was hard like this... when... when... It was bound to be hard, he _knew_ it was bound to be hard, considering how... how Syusuke looked to everyone and how he was _unaware_ of his effect on others... but what if it was _harder_ than that? Because... _Because_...

Because it was bound to be even harder when Tezuka was one of those people.

How... How can he protect Syusuke from _himself_?

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

He'd watched Syusuke grow, he'd spent his entire life with his brother, and before... before, when they were just children, it wasn't so hard... it wasn't so _hard_ to admit to himself that he found his brother attractive.

Syusuke is...

_Syusuke_ is...

Syusuke _is_...

Syusuke. Is...

Damn it, Syusuke is... _beautiful._

Was that so hard?

Yes, yes it was. Because whenever Tezuka let himself think that... whenever Tezuka _allowed _himself to _think _that...

The unmarred, pale, flawless swanlike column of his throat. The graceful curve of his spine. His eyes, so, _so blue_, like the sky...

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

And the way... the way Syusuke kept coming to him at night, wanting to sleep in his bed, eyes so trusting, so sure. The way Syusuke allowed himself to be held at night. The way Syusuke's hair always smelled like vanilla. The way...

The way Tezuka would watch him sleep, the moonlight falling on his body, making him look even more beautiful, making him look ethereal. The way Tezuka would wake up from a dream he barely remembered having only to find himself rock hard in his pants, and he would pull away, with _so much_ effort. The way Tezuka would return from a cold, _cold_ shower, settle himself at the far end of the bed away from his brother, but still altogether too close. The way he couldn't bring himself to stay away, _just stay away_. The way...

The way he _knew_ how _close_ they were, how easy it would be to close the distance, how easy it would be to strip away whatever oversized top Syusuke was wearing, how _easy _it would be to hold his brother down when he... _if he_...

There was pain in his knuckles and that was when Tezuka belatedly realized that he had punched the wall... Or, more appropriately, slammed his fist on it.

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

God, what was _wrong_ with him?

He loved his brother, he, of all people should _know_ how _much_ he loved his brother, and he tried to stop, just stop, right there, he won't go on, he won't _think_ past that, he _won't_... Or so he tries to delude himself.

Because he, (_oh, how soft Syusuke's lips would be, against his own_) of all people, (_how _good_ it would feel to have Syusuke writhing beneath him, completely in his mercy_) knew.

He _knew_ (_how pleasurable it would be, having Syusuke gasp his name with his voice, resplendent, like a bird's song_).

There was more to it than that.

"_Ne, Tezuka, are you actually one of those types who have less than innocent intentions towards their brothers?"_

Chitose Senri had absolutely no idea how close he had struck to home.

* * *

><p>Clary: I. AM. PEEVED.<p>

Lia: Is this because of 'mature content' again? Because I thought we settled it already.

Clary: No, it's not because of mature content. It's a whole different big thing entirely.

Lia: ... ... ... ... (long pause) _Oh_, was I supposed to ask about it? Sorry. Wait one moment. (clears throat) Oh, Issa, what are you peeved about this time?

Clary: (ignoring Lia's sarcasm) BECAUSE, Lia, I have such sucky scene cuts~~~~ (wails) Why won't fanfiction not save my awesome scene cuts? Now I have to use this: ./. and it's... it's... Waaaaaaaaah~~

Lia: ... This is the reason why you're peeved?

Clary: YES. (cries some more)

Lia: Honestly, Issa. _Seriously_?

Clary: Seriously. It's such a sucky scene cut~~~~~ What kind of scene cut is ./. ? A SUCKY ONE, that's what. How can I get nice scene cuts? Nooooooooo!

Lia: ... Please review and ignore Ms. Drama Queen over there. (Issa, I think, needs a shrink)


	4. IV Circles

Clary: (sheepish laugh) ... This chapter... is kinda late... isn't it...?

Lia: She has no one to blame but herself.

Clary: IT'S NOT MY FAULT, OKAY! Damn it, Lia, whose side are you _ON_?

Lia: Yours.

Clary: SO IT'S NOT MY FAULT! It's Nate's fault for telling~~~~~

Lia: Nate was just being a good kid, unlike you.

Clary NO ONE told him to tell Mom I used the computer. Some brother he is... (grumble)

Lia: Issa got grounded (for swearing, wouldn't you know it) and while she was grounded, she sneaked and used the computer to post chapter three so she got more grounded.

Clary: BECAUSE NATE TOLD MOM! **NOT MY FAULT**~~~

Lia: If you just waited out your three days like a good little girl, you probably would have been able to do this sooner. You have no one to blame but yourself.

Clary: I thought you were on MY side! (Lia, just because Elle and Rien DOTE on you...)

Lia: No, I'm not on your side. LIA is on your side, but your EDITOR, who is trying to make you please your readers (who have, thus far, been kind and wonderful and all awesome) is none to happy with the situation. There is a difference. (And it's not my fault that I'm the youngest, so there)

Clary: (grumbles) WHATEVER, LIA. Fuck you.

Lia: Here's the fourth chapter, anyhow. Please enjoy. (Careful with your language or you might end up grounded again, Issa)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Alatarielf (Thank you so, so, so much~~~ You inspire us always~ We hope you like this chapter~~), neumegami (KYAAAAAAAA~~~~~~ Your drawing is too delicious, we're just like hyperventilating because of its delicious-ness~~~ We love you~), phoenixfirekitsune (is this update considered soon? –sheepish smile-), Shuzuka (thank you~ We're glad~~), BleuFleur (thanks so much~~ We were trying to make it so there's danger everywhere to Syusuke, actually, you know, both in and out the school.. (: And thanks for sympathizing with the scene cuts~~ It's nice to be sympathized with~)

* * *

><p><strong>IV<strong>**. CIRCLES**

* * *

><p><em>He was five, Syusuke was four.<em>

_Their parents didn't believe in kindergarten, or rather, didn't believe very much in any other school apart from the Academy, and since they had yet to get a letter or be paid a visit, they didn't have school, not that they needed it, they learned so much more at home, reading books, tending the garden, practicing by themselves, and listening to their grandfather. It didn't matter that they didn't go to school, they probably even knew so much more than the kids who _went_ to kindergarten who spent the better part of their classes "sleeping and having nap time" (their grandfather's words)._

_They were both precocious children, anyway._

_It was one of those days, it was early spring and though no one would have minded that they took a break from studying, they were inside the house because Syusuke had begged not to go out._

_Tezuka never did very well at refusing Syusuke when he begged, he never did very well at refusing Syusuke _anything_, even if he didn't beg, but he did and that was that._

_The crisp white paper was spread out in the table in front of Tezuka. He was practicing calligraphy, and while he didn't like it very much, he didn't exactly dislike it, either, and he still had some strokes to improve, because he was good at it but altogether not good enough for him._

_Syusuke sat at the other end of the room, a book spread out before him. For all his begging not to go out, he spent half the time looking out the window, barely paying attention to his reading, spending more time than was necessary in one page. If Tezuka had been reading with him, he would have made Syusuke focus, but he wasn't reading, he was doing calligraphy, and he spent a few moments comtemplating whether or not it had been a good decision to back off after Syusuke's first (prepared) teary speech about why he _should not_ touch a calligraphy brush ever again. Syusuke hated calligraphy, he was too impatient for it, he hated all its rules and restrictions and he hated, absolutely hated, to sit with his legs under him and his spine stiff and back straight, the way their grandfather had demonstrated when he first started teaching them._

_He turned back to his paper._

_Five minutes later, Syusuke had, excitedly, come up beside him, shoving the book in his face, its glossy pages merely a few centimeters from coming in contact with his nose._

"_Ne, ne, onii-sama," Syusuke said, giving him an eager grin. "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"_

_The chicken, of course, the eggs wouldn't be there if the chickens weren't there to lay them in the first place, and even though this sounded a little childish, Tezuka was _five_, there wasn't anything more anyone could expect from him, so he proceeded to give Syusuke his answer._

_Syusuke's smile morphed into a thoughtful frown and Tezuka suddenly found himself inspecting his words, trying to find something wrong in there or at least, something that could've made Syusuke frown. _

"_But..." Syusuke trailed off, biting his lip and looking down at the book's glossy pages once more. It was one of those picture encyclopedias and Tezuka noticed it was opened to the page of (what did he expect, really?) developing chicks._

"_But what?" Tezuka asked gently, poking Syusuke's arm so he looked up again. "Speak freely, Syusuke. And don't bite your lip."_

"_Well, see, it's.." Syusuke sighed, before his turned his head to look away. "It's just that, don't chickens hatch from eggs? So, if there weren't eggs, then there wouldn't be chickens. But there wouldn't be eggs if there weren't chickens... so... and..." He sighed again. "I'm confused."_

_He was right, of course, he was right most of the time, and he was hardly ever confused. Tezuka took time to think about it, trying to find a satisfying enough answer for his brother, and he had to, or else Syusuke would spend the next few days (or weeks or months) obsessing about it until he forgot (unlikely, but Tezuka can hope) or he found an answer to the question._

_Tezuka dipped the brush to the ink and regarded his paper. "Look, Syusuke," he said, beginning to draw. First, an egg at the topmost part, then a chick to its lower left, then a chicken opposite the chick._

_Syusuke giggled at his crude, childish drawing, but it'll have to do. _

"_There's the egg," Tezuka said, pointing. "Then, it'll hatch to a chick." He drew a curving arrow to the chick. "Then, the chick will grow up and become a chicken." He drew another curving arrow towards the chicken. "Then, the chicken will lay an egg." Another arrow. "It's a cycle, see? But what more does it look like to you?"_

_Syusuke looked at the drawing, gave another thoughtful little frown and said, "A circle."_

"_That's correct. Remember what grandfather said about circles? They have..." Tezuka trailed off, letting Syusuke fill in the sentence._

"_... Neither a beginning nor an end," Syusuke finished, grinning. His face lit up happily at his new discovery. _

"_Onii-sama," he said, peering at Tezuka with his wide, guileless blue eyes. "Is very, very smart."_

_He giggled to himself before bouncing back to his previous position, flipping the page and reading again, with a rather contented smile on his face._

_Tezuka watched him with a fond smile, just like an older brother would, though he didn't say anything and just turned back to his paper, with its childish drawings._

_It was the first time his heart fluttered at a compliment from his younger brother. _

_And the first time he noticed just how beautiful those eyes were, so blue, like the sky, sparkling with joy, framed with long, lush lashes._

_It was the first time Tezuka called his brother beautiful._

_./._

Tezuka Kunimitsu, _the_ perfect, stoic, emotionless Tezuka Kunimitsu lusted after his brother.

Tezuka cringed.

It sounded so, so wrong in his thoughts, he didn't even want to say it out loud, not that he wanted to in the first place. Vaguely, Tezuka wondered how _that_ would sound like in the lips of shameless Chitose Senri or egotistic Atobe Keigo and wished that he never would have the privilege to know.

It hadn't begun that way, Tezuka knew it hadn't begun that way, because first, more than anything, more than this... this _desire_ for Syusuke, Tezuka loved him. Tezuka, really and truly did love Syusuke, more than anything, he wanted for Syusuke to be happy, more than anything, he wanted to care for, protect and cherish his younger brother. He didn't know why, it went beyond the fact that they were siblings, it was... something, just _something_ fluttering, something in his heart telling him that... to...

...

... Great. So now, Tezuka wasn't just lusting after Syusuke, apparently, he _loved_ his brother, too. And _that_ posed so, so much more problems than the latter.

_But it was true_.

It was true, and there was nothing Tezuka can do about it. It was true, and sometimes, Tezuka wished that this... this rational, analytical part of his mind would just _shut up_, he didn't want to think about it, he _didn't_, he wanted to at least have the illusion that maybe, maybe... maybe he was wrong.

He wasn't, of course.

Ho loved Syusuke, more than what was allowed, more than what was right, more than what society said was _right_ for two siblings.

He loved Syusuke, and he had even before, when they were very young. Tezuka recalled the way his skin would tingle when they touched, the way his heart would flutter when he smiled, the way his entire world, his whole _universe_ revolved around one, just one person. (And then, he recalled the dreams, the desire to do more than hold his hand, the want to press his lips against those smiling ones, the cold showers in the mornings.)

He'd loved Syusuke even before, and the lust, the _lust_ was there, always there, Tezuka had just been too young and too innocent to give a name to those feelings. (Or perhaps, he already _did_ know, and just didn't want to acknowledge it because, whichever way anyone looked at it, it was _wrong_.)

There was love, and there was the lust and more than anything (even more than not wanting to realize that his feelings towards his _brother_ were all wrong and twisted), more than _anything_, Tezuka didn't want to know which came first.

"_Ne, ne, onii-sama. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"_

Tezuka wanted to say he loved Syusuke first, that the lust came much, _much_ later, but... But he hadn't realized that he loved Syusuke, either. So, it was also highly probable that the... desire was there, even before, he just didn't know it, and he didn't want to know it, he _didn't_.

Because if lust came first, then...

Tezuka really, truly wanted to believe he was a proper, honorable person, in every way proper and honorable were, and that was already almost impossible, considering his feelings towards his own _brother_, but if he'd lusted after him first... If he'd _lusted _after Syusuke when he was _five_...

... Then there'd be no solution to this problem.

./.

Persona felt ecstatic.

Actually, he didn't quite know what to feel, staring down at Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother's file like this, trying to calculate in his head how many fucking problems he could have easily solved in the past god knows how many fucking years if he'd just fucking read the kid's fucking file instead of dumping it at the bottom of the Academy records room drawer because he was deceived by the kid's fucking appearance.

It took him an _entire fucking night_ trying to find the damn file jammed at the back of the file drawers. It didn't make him happy, it did quite the opposite, actually, Persona was not a patient person and he certainly _did not_ appreciate it that he had to stay up until early dawn before he could find a kid's file for just a single tidbit of information he could've known if he'd read the fucking file in the first place.

He'd been highly annoyed, if all the smashed furniture in his office had anything to say about it. So it was understandable that when he finally, _finally_ found the kid's file, he'd torn the folder neatly in half before he'd fervently scanned the papers, trying to locate just what the hell the kid can do.

And when he found out, his irritation rose to an unbearable peak... _and then_, he felt ecstatic.

He mentally ran his head through his (very small) roster of memorable kids who'd been assigned to his jurisdiction in all the years he'd been 'teaching', and realized that none of them, _absolutely none of them_, not even Tezuka Kunimitsu himself could match the potential there was to Tezuka Syusuke's capabilities with his alice.

An alice that allowed him to _walk in death_. Not only that, an alice that lets him _bring_ death and _undo_ it.

In comparison, the alice of pain, the alice of fire, the alice of whatever else there was, were horribly outmatched.

Persona's mind was reeling with perverse glee. It was everything he could have wanted for a Dangerous Ability Type student. Not only that, all the brilliant potential was encased inside a very, very unassuming body that had even Persona himself fooled. If Persona couldn't even see it, _no one else_ could see the kid coming. He could walk up to his target, with all his made-up innocence and girlishness and the target wouldn't even see death coming right up until the very, very , _very_ last moment, when it was too late.

He could ditch his entire inner circle of favorites (even Tezuka Kunimitsu, who'd made himself quite invaluable) and _still_ manage to accomplish all the duties of the Dangerous Ability Type with _just one kid_.

It would make things damn easier and he wouldn't have to do things like stalk Chitose Senri so he could find something to curb the brat's eccentricity because he only would have one kid to worry about.

It felt very, very liberating.

And very, very irritating, too, once he got to it, considering just how he could've saved himself all this grief if he'd just read the kid's damn file in the first place.

He spent the rest of the morning completely demolishing his office.

./.

Somewhere between then and now, Syusuke had managed to crawl into his bed. He didn't know how, and he was too sick to worry about something as trivial as how he managed the suddenly large distance between his bathroom and his bed, just that he _was_ in his bed, so that's it.

He'd had the nightmares, it was wrong to expect anything else, and he'd woken up with a half-formed scream and a hoarse throat for his troubles. He spent the next few hours trying to keep himself awake, curled up underneath layers and layers of blankets and pillows that did nothing to keep him warm.

He wanted to skip school today, he didn't care about the long lectures and the worried glances he'd have to suffer from his brother as a result, frankly, he didn't care about anything right now, if it wasn't here in his little cocoon of pillows and blankets and darkness. He expected to be left alone the entire day before he'd have to face his brother tonight, when he (hopefully) felt a little better and had (hopefully) came up with some sort of decent explanation as to why he was so sick he had to miss an entire day's worth of classes (not to mention yesterday's afternoon classes).

He certainly didn't expect to have his covers thrown back, his heavy curtains parted so that he was blinking painfully against the harsh morning sunlight. Blindly, he groped for a pillow and stuffed his head against it and the mattress, trying to drown out the light.

"I guess I was right to worry about you."

It was Seiichi. For some reason, Seiichi was always there when he felt terrible, sometimes even before his nii-san himself, he was just always there, and while he had always liked it before, he didn't particularly like it _now_, not after his horrible night, and equally horrible morning.

Don't get him wrong, he liked Seiichi. Seiichi was probably the one person he liked the most out of their group of friends, and it had nothing to do with the fact that they were cousins... Well, okay, it _could_ have a little to do with the fact that they were cousins, he supposed, but he liked Seiichi because he cut a very comforting figure in Syusuke's life, and while he wasn't as comforting as his nii-san, he was a (very, very) close second and that was a whole lot of comforting, once he thought about it. It wasn't very comforting, though, to know that Seiichi was aware of his condition and could, very easily go to his nii-san next door to tell while he'd be powerless to stop him.

So Syusuke said, "Why are you here?" that sounded more strained than harsh even to Syusuke's own ears.

He winced.

"Hmm?" the voice lazily drifted down to where he was desperately trying to pull the blankets up above his head again. "I had a feeling."

Seiichi never 'had a feeling' as far as Syusuke knew, Seiichi was where he was because he _knew_ it was where he wanted to be, no matter what Seiichi said about it and Syusuke knew it and Seiichi knew that Syusuke knew it, but it didn't stop him from saying the contrary, if only by sheer force of habit.

"Shadows talk, Syusuke," he said this time, thankfully drawing back the curtains so the room was in darkness once again.

Of course, by that, he meant that shadows talk to _him_, not to Syusuke, not to anyone else, because Syusuke had spent the entire night with shadows and darkness and he hadn't _heard_ anything aside from his own screams.

"I don't hear anything," Syusuke mumbled to the pillow, trying to find a way to get Seiichi to promise not to tell his nii-san anything before he had a ready excuse made.

Seiichi drew the blankets back a little so Syusuke's head poked out, before slowly stroking his hair. "Are you going to tell me how you ended up like this or should I guess?"

Syusuke thought about it. He wanted to tell Seiichi the truth, he supposed it _would_ be easier to tell somebody instead of keeping it all to himself but then again, Seiichi was his cousin and he will (and Syusuke knew that he _will_) sometime during the day have to report Syusuke's condition (and its cause) to his brother like a good cousin should so... "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's okay, I could pretty much guess what happened, anyway." And Syusuke knew that the 'guess' would probably be spot on because 'shadows talk' and so far, they had never been wrong.

"... Are you going to tell nii-san?"

The stroking stopped, and a contemplative silence filled the room. But before Syusuke could say anything, the stroking started again. "He has his worries, it'd be best to leave him alone. I'll have to tell, of course, but for now..."

He bent down to kiss Syusuke's head. "I'll lie for you."

Before Syusuke could appreciate the comfort the kiss had given him, it was gone, and so was Seiichi's weight on his bed.

"Feel better, okay? And no more trips to Death just yet." And Seiichi left.

./.

Maihara Chizuru liked wearing elaborate kimonos and makeup that reminded Hinako of geishas in a time long past and best forgotten. Perhaps it was Chizuru's way of staying connected with her past or something, Hinako never understood it, why Chizuru felt the need to remain connected with her past, Hinako would have gladly forgotten hers, if it was only possible.

Today, she was wearing a kimono of summer weight in shades of brown and gold, with deer nuzzling one another below the waist amidst a background of browns and golds patterned to look like falling autumn leaves, and had a plum-colored obi that was interwoven with silver threads. She looked very pretty, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing make-up or she didn't style her hair up like she usually did, and beside her, Hinako, in her soft yellow strapless dress felt like a child.

"It's _spring_, Yurehime, not fall," Hinako said, with a grumble in her tone. "Why are you wearing a kimono that looks like _fall_?"

Chizuru eyed her out of indulgent eyes, the way she did whenever Hinako used her geisha name. "Fall kimonos in fall?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Groundbreaking."

Hinako suddenly got the feeling that Chizuru was having fun at her expense, though she didn't have the slightest idea why or how. "Are you... Are you being sarcastic?" she asked, starting to whine. "_Mou_, Yurehime, are you being sarcastic to _me_? You _know_ I don't like it when you're sarcastic!"

"I'm not being sarcastic," Chizuru replied, though they both knew she wasn't telling the truth.

Hinako started to grumble, as she always did when Chizuru did things _like that_ and Chizuru let her because it was too much of an effort to get her to stop and Chizuru understood that it was her way of venting out frustration. She never said it, and Ashikaga-san might be much happier if Hinako never did it, but she did, and Chizuru, who'd spent almost a century with her, knew her better than anybody.

"... the _sense_ of having a summer weight kimono with an autumn design. _Why_ she wears kimono in the first place, I'd never get. How could she even _move_ to do her job properly..."

Chizuru smiled. "You know as well as I do that the restrictions of kimono never bother me."

Hinako stuck out her tongue. "Why do you _insist_ on wearing things like this, Chizu-nee? You've spent your time playing geisha already –"

"So have you."

Yes, Hinako had, and she had nothing but bad memories of it. It was somewhere near the beginning of her (very long) life, when she had been stupid enough to think that the world of those pretty ladies with their pretty kimono and pretty make-up and pretty parties and pretty dances would be the happiest and the best world for her.

It was everything but.

The only good that came out of being a geisha was that she got to meet Chizuru (who had been a very, very popular geisha then) and Murakami-nii and Ashikaga-san. Ashikaga-san, who'd given her another chance to relive her life and undo the mistakes that came from her false preconceptions of the geisha world. For that, she'll always follow him.

"How was the Academy?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Chizuru made a face. "_Precious_." And she said it with a very, very disgusted tone, as if it would explain everything to Hinako.

It didn't, of course, but she laughed anyway. They all hated the Academy, perhaps because Ashikaga-san hated it, and she didn't know _why_ he hated it but he did and so did they.

Chizuru sniffed disdainfully before drawing her sleeves towards her and folding her arms against her chest. "It's not funny. _You_ try going in there, simpering with those obnoxious _special_ little brats."

"Really? Nobody caught your interest?" Hinako looked up and tried to consider this. "You do know that a few of those students went and slaughtered two of Ashikaga-san's trained battalions."

Chizuru sniffed again, she always liked sniffing and she did it (like she did everything else) very, very elegantly. Hinako never knew how she managed, she'd tried sniffing (elegantly) and it never came out quite right. "They'll all die, soon enough."

"Yes, well, that's true. I'd like to get my hands on some of them, though."

"We'll have our chance," Chizuru assured her. "I'll be sure to enjoy every second of it."

Hinako looked at Chizuru for a very long moment, watching her and the wicked edge to her smile. "You know, Murakami-nii is having trouble getting into death."

"I know, Ashikaga-san mentioned it." Chizuru didn't look particularly troubled by this, but then again, she was never particularly troubled about _anything_, having lived as long as she had.

"If Ashikaga-san doesn't get his army and that Greater Dead creature he wanted, do you suppose-"

"You know we'll get into death eventually, Hinako."

"I _know_, but _just suppose _he doesn't, do you think he'll let us do the job for him?"

Well, Chizuru's smile, if it was any indication, said that she _wanted_ it to happen, but Chizuru was devoted to Ashikaga-san too much to want his plans to fail, even though she'd very much enjoy it. So, instead of answering, Chizuru glared at her the way she did when she had enough of Hinako's whining and wanted her to stop, otherwise, Hinako would find herself awakening in her room with blood soaking her new strapless dress of the day.

"Okay, _okay_, I _could_ hope, you know," Hinako said instead of pressing the issue because she didn't particularly like dying, and she didn't want her new dress ruined with blood _again_.

"There was an article in the newspaper today," Chizuru started, eyeing her with sort of an amused glint in her eyes. "Something about killings in France?"

At _that_, Hinako laughed. "I read it. It was very funny. Apparently, I'm a serial killer now."

Chizuru laughed along with her, but for a completely different reason, and that reason was, "The media dubbed you, 'The Drunkard.'"

Hinako stopped laughing. "I _did not_ read that. Where did you _read _that?"

"What did you expect, really? You killed half of France's wine growers, _and_ all the workers in their vineyards."

Hinako pouted. "It's not like I didn't get permission. Ashikaga-san said I could kill them if they were a bother to me. Well, _they were a bother_, so I killed them." She nodded once, so convinced was she of the sense of her reasoning.

Chizuru laughed again. "How was it?"

Hinako's eyes twinkled merrily as she recalled those happy, happy times. "_Fun_."

* * *

><p>Clary: I know this sucks. (cries) I'm so, so, so, sorry for disappointing you guys.<p>

Lia: (sigh) Here we go again.

Clary: It's just that school opened last week. SCHOOL! And to top it off, I was grounded. (cries some more)

Lia: Yep, that's right... (waiting for more)

Clary: It's SCHOOL that everyone should be beware of! BEWARE! School drains all of the people's creative juices until there's NONE left~~~ BEWARE~~~

Lia: I've heard this exact same rant I don't know how many times already, by the way. This is Issa's main excuse every time she deletes a line now. (imitating Issa) Liaaaaaaaaaa~~~~~ School's drained me off of my creative-ness~~~~~ I suck now~~~~~ Noooooooo~~~~~~

Clary: I DID NOT SAY I SUCKED! I said MY WRITING sucked. There is a HUGE line between ME sucking and MY WRITING sucking. (I hate you, Lia)

Lia: It's close enough. (I hate you, too)

Clary: WHATEVER. Whatever, Lia. WHATEVER. (bitch)

(turns to readers) I love you guys and to make it up to you, here's a preview of chap 5~ Yey~

(Lia: I was against this, by the way. I told her she'd do more damage, but she didn't listen. Why am I not surprised?)

_Chapter V: Persona's Puppets_

"What's this, Tezuka? What does Persona mean? You can kill immortals?"

"No, he can't," Persona answered for him. "But he knows someone who can, and very capably."

Atobe turned to him. "Who?"

Persona raised an eyebrow, challenging Tezuka to speak. He didn't, just like Persona expected him to. His smile widened and he felt like laughing.

"Tezuka Syusuke."

Lia: I was also against putting THIS (there were a dozen other lines to choose from) scene, when she insisted on doing this, but what can I do? She's the author. (I still think this is a stupid mistake. Especially since she used THIS scene) But please do review~


	5. V Persona's Puppets

Clary: Hiya guys~ Clary here~~~~

Lia: And in a much better mood than last time. Oh, the joy.

Clary: Can it, Lia, I know you're being sarcastic. What's got your panties in a bunch?

Lia: In case we haven't noticed, I'm trying to SLEEP here.

Clary: But we just came back from the resort-place and it was super-awesome~~~~~~ Why would anyone want to sleep after THAT?

Lia: It's called being tired. I'm TIRED, Issa, and I don't have much patience to pretend otherwise.

Clary: Ooooooohhhh. Scaaaaaaaarrrrryyyyyy~ (laughs)

Lia: You'd be tired too if you were forced to babysit yourself. So why don't you just focus on your readers and try talking to me when I'm not a walking zombie (and when I'm less annoyed by your presence)?

Clary: Fine, BE THAT WAY. (turns to readers) Here's the fifth chapter guys~ (And I swear, I thought it would actually be a happy one... Oh well~)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Alatarielf (We're happy we make you laugh~ And we feel so ecstatic~ No one's praised us that way before~~~ Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! We hope you enjoy this, too~), phoenixfirekitsune (-wink- We'll see, won't we? –wink wink-), Shuzuka (-laugh- murder freaks~ yey~ We though Syusuke was cute, too~~~~ Persona's amusing and we actually want to portray those two other characters as people who have no regard for life... :)), Murderous Phantom (thanks so much~), silver starlight serpant (let's mourn not having Sanada in this story together~ Don't worry, we have a plan~~)

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><p><strong>V<strong>**. PERSONA'S PUPPETS**

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><p>"He wasn't at breakfast, so I didn't tell him anything."<p>

It was noon, and Seiichi was in his room with the obvious intention of not leaving until probably tonight or tomorrow morning. Syusuke liked it when people took care of him, because he was very much a child inside and children liked being taken care of, but he didn't like the pity that crossed Seiichi's face every now and then when he brushed against Syusuke's skin and felt its chilly temperature.

Syusuke tried to ignore it, but it was very hard to ignore it with Seiichi's very, very un-ignorable wince. So he'd asked Seiichi what he told his nii-san, because he wanted a distraction, and even though he still had a few hours before his inquisition, it was smarter to have his story straight _now_, rather than stumble through it and make a mistake later.

"He wasn't... at breakfast?" His voice came out muffled, though that had more to do with the fact that he was worried than the fact that his head was buried in Seiichi's chest.

The arms around him tightened as Syusuke felt more than heard the laugh. "He is a big boy, he can take care of himself. Don't worry so much. I saw him in class, so he's okay."

"Okay," he replied because there was really nothing else he could do. The smell of the lunch Seiichi had brought up for him wafted into his nostrils, and perhaps it would have been good if he'd just accepted it but he didn't think he could stomach anything at the moment, the mere smell of the food had been enough to make him want to retch again. He buried himself deeper to Seiichi's chest.

They were quiet for a long moment, and Syusuke liked it. For some reason or another, nii-san never held him like this, he had before, when they were little, but he never did now. He didn't know why but it (sort of) annoyed his nii-san so he never pressed, he didn't want to make his brother unhappy.

"Are you going to tell me now why you did it?" The voice was solemn and Syusuke knew that Seiichi was serious now, and while he hadn't demaded answers before, he was doing so _now_ and he wouldn't stop until he got it.

Syusuke thought about telling the truth, but quickly decided against it. "It was a stupid reason," he said, closing his hands into fists and ducking out from Seiichi's all-knowing gaze. "I don't want to talk about it."

Neither of them said anything about the underlying message: _Don't you already know, anyway?_

Seiichi sighed. "It'd be nicer, hearing it from you, once in a while, Syusuke." He started stroking his hair again. "And you're right, it's stupid."

"I know." It was a very small voice. "... Keigo came over this morning."

Seiichi didn't reply, though Syusuke noticed his grip tightening just a little bit.

"He thinks I'm sulking."

"I told him you were sulking," Seiichi said, sounding terribly annoyed at the subject. "You have every right to be. Did he say sorry?"

Syusuke tried to remember. "No. He seemed sorry, though."

"As he should," Seiichi said with a tone of finality. "Let's talk about something else."

"What do you want to talk about?"

Because Syusuke honestly didn't know what Seiichi wanted to talk about. He certainly seemed annoyed that Syusuke even bothered to bring Keigo up but Syusuke was still very reluctant to talk about his little excursion in death that Seiichi knew so much about. Seiichi always knew so much about everything, 'shadows talk' and they were always right, but Seiichi knew so much more about Syusuke, more than Syusuke probably even knew of himself.

He didn't know whether to hate it or not.

Seiichi lifted his head from where it was buried against his chest and tilted it up so Syusuke was forced to look at him straight in the eye. He was wearing a pleasant smile and his eyes were twinkling. "Kisaragi-chan went to my class today."

Almost instantly, Syusuke blushed. Kisaragi Meiko was the same year as him, was in almost every one of his classes and it was no secret (_at all_) that she liked him. She was nice and kind and gentle but she was also very, very brazen and was very, very open about her... _affection_ towards him. Syusuke didn't mind it much, she never went so far as to grope him or anything but she certainly had no qualms on hanging on his arm or kissing his cheek or driving away all other girls who so much as looked at him. Seiichi and everyone else found it funny and amusing; his nii-san, however, hated it and did everything in his capability to keep him apart from her.

So, to placate his nii-san and also to keep Meiko from being misled, he kept (or tried to keep) a decent distance between them. He'd told her (from the start) that he didn't really return her... _affections_ because he didn't want to lead her on and get her hurt, but instead of being put off, she had smiled, told him he was such a noble gentleman for putting her feelings into consideration, that he was chivalrous and don't worry, she'd get him to fall in love with her one day.

He didn't know how she managed to spin it so wildly out of proportion, but they became friends, a very odd pair at that, considering Meiko and her very, very open, brazen advances.

"Meiko came to your class?"

Seiichi's smile widened. "Ah, so it's Meiko now. Turn my back on you lovebirds for one second and suddenly, you're on first-name terms with each other and not even afraid to flaunt it."

Syusuke's blush brightened. "Well... You see, she... I mean... I..." He was stuttering. Great. Seiichi would probably take that and give it more than half a dozen (wrong) hidden meanings. "Meiko-san and I are just friends." It was a last-ditch attempt at steering Seiichi away from his thoughts that were nothing good, judging from his smile and it didn't work, just like he had expected it to.

"Oh, just go on ahead and call her Meiko. She didn't think twice of calling you by _your_ first name when she asked about you this morning, anyway," Seiichi informed him, still with a sly smile.

Syusuke looked down, still feeling the blush. "She wanted to," he mumbled, and, even though it wouldn't work, he said, again, "We're just friends."

"She's made it perfectly clear she wants more than that," Seiichi said. "And it's perfectly clear that she's succeeding, too."

Okay, now, Syusuke knew his face was definitely as red as a tomato. "She's not!" he retorted loudly, because it's _true_, she wasn't, Syusuke felt nothing more for her than he did the day he first met her.

Of course, he shouldn't have expected it to work.

"First name terms, Syusuke," Seiichi reminded him. "She asked about you. Said she was worried that you didn't come to class yesterday afternoon and this morning. Aren't you glad to have such a loving girlfriend?"

Well, at least he tried.

./.

Syusuke slept and Yukimura Seiichi let him.

It was something he badly needed, along with food in his system and since he can't do anything about the latter, he did his best making up for it with the former.

Yukimura was protective over Syusuke to a fault, and it wasn't all that hard to understand why. He'd lost his family, like Syusuke and Tezuka, and Syusuke was the only family he had left. Yukimura didn't have anything else left to be protective to so all his protectiveness (which was a lot) went to Syusuke, and it was a whole lot of protective, he even actually rivaled Tezuka in that department.

He shifted so that his skin came in contact with Syusuke's again. It was still cold, but it was getting on to be warm, or as warm as Syusuke's skin could get, and color was returning, sort of.

He released Syusuke from his hold and stood up slowly so that Syusuke wasn't disturbed from his sleep. The talk about Kisaragi-chan was good for him, it distracted him enough so that he was able to sleep even though talks about Kisaragi-chan were always inconsequential and moot.

Syusuke didn't love her, and Yukimura doubted he ever will, Syusuke only had one heart and he had already given it to someone else a long, long time ago.

He wasn't consciously aware of it, the way he wasn't consciously aware of many other things, but he loved and Yukimura wished he could tell him, but it was something he needed to figure out on his own.

Yukimura stroked his cheek and smiled fondly. He had to leave for a bit, he'll be back shortly, and Syusuke would be fine.

But somehow he wished that when he got back, Syusuke would be much, much happier.

He strode purposefully towards the door, took a last look before he opened and shut it softly.

Just as he expected (or just as the shadows told him to expect), Chitose Senri was there, leaning against the wall beside the door, playing with a neon tennis ball. It was that Shiraishi kid who taught (forced) Chitose to play tennis, to teach him discipline, he'd explained, and now, whenever there was a ball in his hands, Yukimura right away knew that he was serious.

"Syusuke went to Death again, didn't he?" was his first question, staring blankly at the ball in his hand.

Yukimura didn't respond; they both knew the answer. Chitose, though a year behind him, was alike to Yukimura in the way that they knew things, Chitose because he did and Yukimura because of shadows.

"Tezuka doesn't know," Chitose said next. It was more of a statement than a question and Yukimura replied with a bland smile, "Yet."

"Yet," Chitose agreed, tossing the ball up to the air. "He has his own issues to deal with."

"Issues _you_ started, from what I gather." It came out more accusatorially than he expected.

Chitose grinned. "I'm getting tired, watching him dance around the issue. I merely gave him a subtle push in the right direction, I didn't intervene _much_." He paused and looked at Yukimura from the corner of his eye. "It's high time they know, anyway. When are you going to tell?"

Yukimura glanced at the opposite wall. "I've kept quiet for almost a decade. They need to find out on their own. Besides," he looked back at Chitose, leveling him with a hard glare. "It's not my place. Nor yours."

"Not mine, that's true," Chitose replied, looking straight at him. "But it's every bit your place to. He _is_ your blood."

"Then don't question me."

Chitose shrugged. "I'm just saying, it will be a whole lot simpler if you did."

"Perhaps it would," Yukimura allowed. "Or perhaps it would not."

"It _would_."

He sighed. He didn't want to talk about the issue, and he knew that they _did_ need to find out all on their own, it would be better that way and he _knew_ it and talking about it like this wasn't making him feel any less older. Besides, now wasn't the time. "I tire of this. Why are you here?"

"Hmm?" Chitose tilted his head to the side. "Persona wanted you. Some stupid idiot broke into the Academy's records."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow, already getting an image in his head, though it wasn't clear, he'd need to be in the place to get the image right from the shadows. "Ah. Did he leave a trace?"

"No, none at all," Chitose replied, mouth pressing into a thin line. "He was good, I'd give him that. But if he expected to not get detected..." Chitose scoffed, the way arrogant, self-assured people did, and Yukimura did not chastise him for it, because he had every right to be. "I think he's trying to insult us."

"Or he might not know just what we can do," Yukimura said, giving one last glance at Syusuke's door before walking in the general direction of the records room. "Come. Who else is there?"

"Ah, well, just Keigo," Chitose replied with a small smile at Yukimura's (involuntary) twitch. "Oh, and Tezuka, too."

They walked mostly in silence, Yukimura with his thoughts on the image in his head that the shadows provided, trying to make sense of the shadows' edgy behavior. As they neared the room, though, Chitose paused, wearing a small frown. "I don't like it, the feeling I get from this thief," he stated, staring into space.

"You're scared?"

"No, but it's... _ominous_, somehow."

Yukimura could sense it, too, the shadows were becoming increasingly restless in this part of the school, and it bothered him a bit. The image in his head was starting to clear, though. "We'll see."

./.

Persona. Was. Pissed.

Or whatever. He wasn't terribly _happy_, that's for sure.

He'd spent the _entire fucking night_ awake, looking for a stupid folder, only to find it by early dawn and find out that he'd almost passed over a terribly wonderful, terribly useful alice because its user looked like a fucking girl. And _then_, he'd been so fucking angry, he'd destroyed his entire damn office and it wasn't fucking _easy_ to get furniture repaired, not when they're broken in a hundred different places, so he had to buy new ones and the trouble with buying new ones was that there'd be _people_ going to his office, moving furniture here and there, putting their grubby little hands everywhere, leaving their horrible, disgusting, _human_ smell _in his office_. And _then_, just when he'd been settling to sleep, some stupid brat of a student had almost knocked his ears off, screaming for him because some stupid idiot of a thief had decided to break into the Academy's records.

It did not help to know that he couldn't even go and recruit Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother for this because he hadn't had the fucking time to _find_ him because he was stuck in the stupid records room, glaring his head off.

He didn't know what he was _fucking_ doing _here_, the only person who could get a damn trace on the damn thief was that Yukimura Seiichi, who he'd sent Chitose Senri to fetch more than a _half hour_ ago.

What the hell was the kid _doing_?

He glanced to where Tezuka Kunimitsu was sorting out the records of the other ability types, trying to find the (very, very) faint left-over aura of the thief. Atobe Keigo was busying himself with the same thing, all the way in the other side of the room. It had been quiet so far, and so far, the aura had only been present in the records of the kids under _his_ jurisdiction and he didn't like what it entailed.

He decided he really _did_ want Tezuka Syusuke in his circle, he'd be a wonderful addition and very, very useful, too, especially for _this_.

And before he could fully comprehend what he was doing, he'd called, "Tezuka."

The kid turned to him swiftly. "Persona-sama?"

He contemplated on how to say this, but then again, the brother was a Dangerous Type, every bit under his jurisdiction as Tezuka, and he had every right to exploit every alice he damn wanted. And that would include Tezuka Kunimitsu's younger brother, whose damn file, by the way, he'd spent an_ entire fucking night_ looking for, he wasn't about to let a sleepless night and an equally sleepless morning go to waste. It's a pity, though, to have to let go of such a good leverage, but no matter, it would still be easy to manipulate Tezuka when he had the brother directly under his wing. Maybe even _easier_. "You have a brother, yes?"

The kid stiffened. So he knew that his brother's alice would have been desirable to Persona and yet he didn't tell. Instead, he'd made himself invaluable so Persona wouldn't have to look for new people and alices to exploit. He was smart. And quite wily. It was good that Persona knew the perfect strings to pull to make this puppet dance to his tune. But the way this same puppet hid something he _wanted_ from him... It did nothing to improve Person's mood.

He gave the kid a twisted smile as he waited for the reply. Letting out his anger like this was quite... satisfying.

The kid opened his mouth to answer but he was cut off by: "It's a woman."

He gave Tezuka one last malevolent smile (_I'll deal with you later_) before turning to Yukimura Seiichi, _at last_.

"A woman? Just a woman?" he questioned, all business now. After all, this was what he signed up to do. The missions, the fights, and the inevitable killings (his favorite part).

Yukimura's eyes were sharp, glancing from one corner of the room to another, where the shadows were. He nodded once. "Not any woman, though."

Chitose Senri had walked up next to Yukimura and was staring in space. "No," he agreed, frowning.

"She's leaking some sort of... strange aura," Yukimura said. "An aura of ancientness and death, like she's been in it several times. Possibly.. Possibly immortal."

Persona frowned. An immortal... He'd just sent the warning to that group, when he'd ordered Tezuka, Atobe and Yukimura to kill those regiments, but apparently it wasn't enough.

And now, they'd broken in and had a look at the files of his puppets.

He didn't like it.

"Was she looking for something in particular?" Atobe asked from behind him.

"No," this time, it was Chitose who answered. "Just looking."

He still didn't like it.

"Yukimura, Chitose, track her," he barked. "I want to know who she is, what she was doing, who she's doing it for." He glanced at Chitose as he said this, knowing what he could do, he was answered with a sharp nod. "Then bring her to me."

They didn't question the atrocity of the order, he trained them that well. He let them leave, watched them leave, before turning back to Tezuka and Atobe, who was looking at him with a quizzical frown.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why, indeed," he repeated, smiling. "She knows too much. I can't risk that. I want her dead."

Atobe's frown deepened. "She's immortal."

"I know," Persona responded, feeling his insides cackle with glee. "And I also know someone who could get the job done for me."

He shifted his glance to Tezuka, whose eyes were widening (very slightly) with realization. "Right, Tezuka?"

He watched Atobe turn to Tezuka with a frown still on his face. So he didn't know. It seemed like Tezuka guarded his brother's ability very tightly. Smart and wily, indeed. "What's this, Tezuka? What does Persona mean? You can kill immortals?"

His face was a rigid mask, but his eyes were filling with horror, the way Persona wanted them to. It was narrowing now, in the kid's effort to keep it in check, but Persona saw it anyway.

He liked it.

"No, he can't," Persona answered for him. "But he knows someone who can, and very capably."

Atobe turned to him. "Who?"

Persona raised an eyebrow, challenging Tezuka to speak. He didn't, just like Persona expected him to. His smile widened and he felt like laughing.

"Tezuka Syusuke."

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><p>Clary: Let's say hello to Kisaragi Meiko! (She's OC) She'll play a somehow big role in this fic (or at least I think so) so let's all remember her, kay? Yey~<p>

Lia: ...

Clary: Wake up Lia~~~~ IT'S STORY TIME~~~~~~ Yey~~~~~ (: So we went to this super resort~ I think it was a Korean resort, there were Korean translations under the English writings and there were lotsa Koreans and everything~

Lia: Yep. The president of that resort was Korean.

Clary: OH~ Anyway, there were lotsa cuuuuuttttttteeeee Korean kids and lotsa pools and stuff. There was a wave pool and something they called the Lazy River... or was it the Amazon river...? And there were lotsa slides...

Lia: There were only three, Issa.

Clary: THAT'S A LOT! And then the had cool suite rooms with cool bathrooms that have TRANSPARENT shower enclosures, I don't know how that's possible. But anyway, we stayed overnight and it was uneventful, sorta but then we went down to breakfast the next morning. And IT WAS SO COOL~ There was lotsa food, everywhere~~~~~

Lia: There was an American breakfast station, Korean, one with cereal, one with sushi, one with drinks and you can choose whatever you like.

Clary: There was a dessert station, too. It was Lia's favorite~

Lia: -cough- Anyway, the point is, there were a lot, and I, like the sensible person I was, went and got pancakes and bacon and sausages. But Issa was all: "Liaaaaaaa, we eat those things everydaaaaayyyyyyyyy." So she offed and went to the place where there were all KOREAN foods, and came back with her plate full of "I don't know what it is, Lia. I don't speak Korean, and I can't pronounce it, but it looks yummy~"

Clary: Well, it's TRUE, I don't speak Korean and they DID look yummy. And it's TRUE, we ALWAYS eat pancakes or sausages or egg or bacon or cereal for breakfast. I wanted to try something NEW.

Lia: You should have just went to the sushi table, then.

Clary: I DON'T EAT RAW FISH!

Lia: Okay, FINE, it's not that big a deal. Anyway, continuing on with the story, half of the things Issa filled her plate with turned out to be spicy. And because she's Issa, she didn't get juice in advance, so she ended up flapping her arms up and down like an idiot.

Clary: I DID NOT look like an idiot.

Lia: Issa, people were STARING. Anyway, it was lucky there was a guy bringing a pot of... I think it was hot chocolate... so we got him to pour Issa some.

Clary: It was the WORST thing I ever tasted, I had to dunk ALL the available packets of cream, white sugar and brown sugar for it to be BEARABLE.

Lia: Or maybe it was just the spicy food destroying your tastebuds.

Clary: My tastebuds are FINE, bitch. Nate didn't like it either. Don't tell me you liked it.

Lia: In case you haven't noticed, I didn't ask for it. I drank orange juice, like the normal person I am.

Clary: I don't think normal persons can eat five muffins and a French toast smothered with blueberries in one sitting, Lia.

Lia: -cough- (The muffins were bite-sized, it's totally possible)

Review, please~ Promise we won't make you eat overly-spiced raw fish~


	6. Short Story 1: They Deserved It

**A LITTLE SHORT STORY~**

Written by: Clary and Lia~

Dedicated to: All our awesome readers, thanks so much for sticking with us and not getting tired of our late updates~

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><p><strong>THEY DESERVED IT<strong>_(Tezuka at eight, Syusuke at seven)_

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><p>It's been a week.<p>

Somehow, during the course of the said week, Tezuka managed to pick up the pieces of who he used to be and put it back together again. He didn't know why or how but he knew that his parents and his grandfather (his heart _twisted _in pain) would not appreciate it if he got careless and lost sight of his responsibilities to his brother (to his only family now) just because they're... just because they're...

Just because they were gone now.

He'd allowed himself the luxury of tears only once (and he was actually quite proud of this accomplishment) but it was enough, he had to be strong and he wasn't going to be strong sitting in a corner, crying his little heart out and moaning to the world about the unfairness of it all, feeling sorry for himself.

His family taught him better. He wasn't going to be a pathetic little kid, not when there was someone else who needed him, who looked up to him, who depended on him. Not when Syusuke alternated between throwing up and crying every night in the infirmary, not when Syusuke still smiled for him whenever he showed up, his happiness so obviously faked, it killed Tezuka to see it.

But Syusuke didn't stop, and it only strengthened Tezuka's resolve to be stronger.

They had each other, it was what mattered, nothing else did, not anymore, and he wasn't going to lose the only person he'd ever love because he hadn't been strong enough.

There wasn't going to be repeat of his family's death. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Still, sometimes, Tezuka woke up in the middle of the night, scared and afraid that the next day, Syusuke wouldn't be waiting for him from his bed in the infirmary with his usual weak (fake) smile. Or that the next day, Persona would find out about who Syusuke was, about what he could do, and Syusuke would be forced to Death again and again and again, until he won't come back anymore.

Death was a part of life but for Syusuke, sweet and bright and beautiful, Tezuka wouldn't take it. Syusuke _would not die_, Tezuka would make sure of it.

His fist tightened on the plastic bag he was holding.

He was visiting Syusuke again. This was the third time today (and no, he wasn't paranoid, no matter what Atobe said about it, he just wanted to see if Syusuke had somehow gotten _better_, even if only by a little). He always brought Syusuke little gifts. For now, it was a cactus that would sport nice pink flowers, if the saleslady had been telling the truth. Syusuke liked cactuses, no matter what color their flowers were, though even Tezuka had to admit to himself that _pink_ was kind of... showy.

Still, he knew Syusuke would love it.

His brows furrowed as he turned the corner to the infirmary, noting the noise that was so uncharacteristic of the place.

He stopped short when he noticed some boys from his class, laughing loudly, leaning against the wall as if they hadn't a care in the world.

"You should keep silent," Tezuka told them in a reprimanding manner, his tone sharper than usual (probably because they had the audacity to be noisy near the _infirmary_, did they not have any ounce of respect _at all_?).

The boys turned to him and elbowed one another before laughing aloud again.

"It's _Tezuka_," one of them sneered.

"_You should_ mind your own business, Tezuka," another said, blantantly trying to mock him.

Tezuka watched them passively. He'd stopped being afraid of many things the day he discovered his alice and rowdy bullies were one of them. They were _that_ group in class, the group whose members weren't Dangerous Types, but fancied themselves as one. The group that was insanely jealous of Tezuka and Atobe and Yukimura. The group that would, given the opportunity, antagonize them just for being labelled as a Dangerous Type.

They didn't scare Tezuka one bit.

Still, he was angry, he couldn't deny it, and his blood simmered slightly. A voice at the back of Tezuka's head that he ignored most of the time whispered to him, telling him to use his alice and be done with these pathetic bunch, telling him to punish them for disturbing Syusuke's peace.

But his family had often stressed on patience, no violence, just control.

"_Kunimitsu, you must always remember that strength comes with a responsibility."_

His late grandfather's words.

Grandfather had always been wise, and he'd been everything that a mentor was to both Tezuka and his brother.

Tezuka hadn't disappointed him yet, and he won't start now.

"Ne, Tezuka!"

Tezuka pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused on the boys again.

"You're always coming to the infirmary these days, aren't you?" One asked, sending him a haughty smirk. "What's the matter, little Tezuka? Is it because you can't go running back to your mommy anymore?"

Tezuka's spine stiffened. They _did not_ just...

"Or is it different?" Another boy. Just how many were they, waiting to ambush him in front of the infirmary? "Is your little baby brother in there?" He jerked his thumb to the closed infirmary door, giving Tezuka a suggestive wink.

"Oh, you mean the blue-eyed kid who hangs out with him and Atobe and Yukimura? Is that him, Aoi?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Aoi answered easily, smiling at Tezuka yet again. "Pretty thing, isn't he?"

Tezuka's control snapped. "Don't touch him," he growled, and he was about to punctuate his words with a spike of pain when his grandfather's face came into his consciousness again.

"_I know you'll be a responsible kid, Kunimitsu, and I am glad for it."_

He stopped himself.

"Or what?" Aoi sneered. "Whatcha gonna do, _Tezuka_? Are you finally going to show us what made Persona want you? Are you going to show us your _alice_? Do you even _have_ one?"

They laughed with him. It was easy to see that they took joy in mocking him this way, and Tezuka let them. As long as they forgot about Syusuke, he could keep his control.

He moved closer, subtly trying to get in front of the infirmary door.

"I heard you cried last week," Aoi continued, eyes still full of mirth. "Who knew that the Tezuka Kunimitsu would be a crybaby?"

His posse laughed louder than anything this time, but Tezuka didn't mind. They could say whatever they want. It wouldn't matter. Not to him.

"It's such a shame, isn't it? Personally, I think you're just a –"

But Tezuka would never find out what he was to Tanaka Aoi, because at that very moment, the infirmary door slid open, banging loudly against its frame.

And out came Syusuke, still too thin for Tezuka's liking, still in his hospital gown, still paler than what would have been normal.

But his eyes... his eyes that had dulled in the past week were now glinting coldly, filled with a determination and a fire that Tezuka had never seen in him before.

He never even looked at Tezuka. He strode quickly towards those boys from Tezuka's class, walking with an almost deadly grace, looking dauntless and daunting, despite how small he was in comparison to them.

Aoi stiffened slightly, though his lips were still stretched out in a grin. "Hello, little one," he greeted. "Would you like to-"

Syusuke, before Aoi could even finish, drew back his fist and punched, square on Aoi's jaw. Aoi fell in a surprised heap on the floor.

He growled. "You little _brat_," he hissed, getting up again.

Tezuka, sensing the danger, instinctively walked up to his brother, and clutched his wrist. "Syusuke," he said softly, warning in his voice.

Syusuke didn't listen.

Tezuka tugged. Syusuke didn't budge.

"You want to fight, huh? Is that it?"

"_Try me_," Syusuke replied, voice quivering with anger, cold and malicious. "And you'll see just _why_ I became a Dangerous Type." His hand shot out and gripped Aoi's wrist mercilessly and because Tezuka had been holding his hand, he was able to see just what Syusuke was doing to them.

He was showing them Death.

Their eyes widened, before they turned and abruptly ran away, Tezuka staring after them.

He heard a shuffle near him and he turned his head back to his brother, whose eyes were once again simply lit up by a feverish light and was swaying on his feet. Syusuke blinked up at him once and unceremoniously fell against his body.

Tezuka's heart skipped many beats. He could feel his face flushing. He brought his free arm around Syusuke's waist, holding him up gently. "Syusuke, you shouldn't have-"

"Nii-san?" Syusuke looked up, a different glint in his eyes this time. He gave a gentle smile filled with his typical little-boy hopefulness as he gestured to the bag that held the cactus. "Is that for me?"

./.

"- very, very irresponsible of you."

Tezuka looked at Syusuke, stopping mid-lecture to make sure his brother was listening to everything he'd been saying.

Syusuke, lying amid his fluffy white pillows, looked contrite.

Tezuka calmed down some and lightened his tone a little. "Do you want to tell me what you were thinking?"

Syusuke looked down on his hands, closing and opening them slowly. His face softened at something Tezuka didn't know about and Tezuka wanted, more than anything, to clutch those hands and tell his brother not to shut him out, that he was _here_, and Syusuke could tell him _anything_. He didn't, of course, and it was completely irrational for him to think so.

"I didn't think," Syusuke replied evenly. "I punched him because he deserved it."

Tezuka let out a small sigh. "Syusuke, you know what Grandfather-" Syusuke winced "-would have said about it. Resorting to _that_ kind of physical violence-"

"-should have been avoided, I know, but nii-san?" Syusuke's eyes searched his, pleading to be understood. "I was angry. I.. I.. It didn't matter to me, when they were laughing and noisy outside but when they started talking to you like that, and you didn't do anything-!"

Tezuka took Syusuke's trembling hands into his and squeezed gently. "Something like that should not be responded to with violence. It would only make it worse."

Syusuke's eyes scrunched up and he pressed close, burying his head in Tezuka's shirt. "I'm sorry," he said softly, sounding sincere. "I'm sorry, nii-san."

Tezuka patted his brother's head. "I'm not gonna lie, I'm glad you did it," he said frankly, pausing to hear his brother's tinkling laugh – the first in many days. "But you still shouldn't have done it. They didn't deserve it."

"I think they do."

"Syusuke-"

Syusuke pulled away and smiled, blue eyes sparkling. "That's because not a lot of people a like nii-san, ne? Not a lot of people are good and fair and just."

"Syusuke, it's not a _bad_ thing to be fair and just. You talk about it like it's a bad thing."

Syusuke shook his head childishly. "No, I don't." Syusuke squeezed their still entwined hands. "It's not a bad thing, but not a lot of people are fair and just."

Syusuke drew closer and Tezuka had to breath deeply twice to calm his heart, which was trying to hammer its way out of his chest.

"Nii-san is, though."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Syusuke insisted stubbornly. "And I love you for it."

And to Tezuka's horror (and delight), Syusuke drew himself up and kissed him on the cheek, a chaste kiss that lasted a second but stopped Tezuka's world completely.

Syusuke giggled and beamed brightly, so unlike the Syusuke he had become during the past week. The (very, very small) part of Tezuka that wasn't still reeling from the light kiss felt relieved that his brother was smiling now.

He missed that smile.

Syusuke's smile widened as he settle back on his pillows, closing his eyes. "I love nii-san," he mumbled softly, already drifting towards unconsciousness.

Tezuka's heart pounded against his ribs so furiously, it was a miracle no one was noticing. It was so very easy to make what he could out of that innocent statement. So, so very easy. So very easy to pretend that... that Syusuke felt for him the way he felt for Syusuke.

But he stopped. Because he wasn't going to twist his brother's words that way.

He wasn't.

So he did the only thing that was right for him to do. He squeezed Syusuke's hand and gave him a small smile, replying (in a very even voice that betrayed nothing of his inner turmoil), "I love you, too."

_You just didn't know how much._

* * *

><p>Clary: Lia's been bugging me to write something like this for days...<p>

Lia: It's not like YOU didn't want to.

Clary: I wanted to but you didn't have to bug me for it~ (She was very mean~~ Waaah~~)

Lia: Oh, please. Your readers deserve this, after putting up with your late updates half of the time. You OWE them this.

Clary: FINE. (turns to readers) I hope you guys enjoyed this~ Lia wrote it with me~ Yey~ (Seriously. You could see bits of her writing style during the serious parts. They're so totally LIA).

Lia: It's not like I don't know how to write. (There is a REASON why I'm your editor) Besides, this way, I could monitor what you're actually writing.

Clary: Yeah~~ I don't want you to become my full-time editor, Lia~~~ (No offense) She erased ALL of the profanities I attempted to put~~~ It sounds so CLEAN now~~~~ Waaah~~

Lia: It's a nice change.

Clary: Waaaaahhhh~~~ Lia is picking on me~~~~~

Lia: I hope you guys enjoyed this little peace offering. I promise to get Issa to writing soon so we can update.

Clary: (: Yey~


	7. VI A Monster

Clary: Lia can't be with me today because LIA IS SICK!

She is seriously sick. She's been sick since that day when we posted the short sidestory and she's not getting any better (damn it)~~~ Aunt Alice is freaking out and is talking about bringing her to the hospital. They just got back from some tests and Lia's platelet count is REALLY LOW...

Waaaaahhhhhhh~~~~~~~~~~ (I don't know what I'm gonna do without Lia~~~~~~~~)

I went to visit her this morning though and she glared at me (even if she was feverish and fucking SICK). She asked me what the hell was I doing there (all bitchily but it didn't come out quite right, she hardly had any voice, it was REALLY REALLY hoarse) and so I was like: But Lia~~~~ I'm worried about you~~~~~ And then she was like: No, that's my job. And I was like: You're SICK SICK and you're telling me to worry about me? Fuck, Lia. And she was like: I'm not dying, Issa, so you can stop looking like you have to write a eulogy for my wake, I'm not gonna die.

BUT SHE DIDN'T LOOK LIKE IT! She didn't look healthy AT ALL! So I was like: You're lying aren't you? Oh my god, Lia, do you have cancer? And then she looked at me all funnily and then she called me an idiot and said that she'd throw a pillow to my face if she was capable (but she's not, SHE CAN'T EVEN CARRY A PILLOW NOW!). And then she started ranting about me using my free time better (as if WORRYING ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND EVER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD isn't a productive use of my time) and told me to write this chapter.

I'M DEPRESSED. I'm fucking worried about her but she tells me to write a story. VERY FUNNY LIA. When you get better, I'm gonna STRANGLE you.

So this chapter... is kinda sad and angry and insane because I'm sad and angry and insane. Lia thinks I should see a shrink, she obviously doesn't realize that SHE NEEDS THE HELP more than I do~~~

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: All the people who stuck with me and Lia thus far, thanks so so much. I'm sorry I can't reply to you guys, because I'm speaking in singular now because Lia is SICK~~~~~~ I can't make review replies without Lia~~~ It's something we do together~~~~ Waaaaaaahhhhh~~~~~

* * *

><p><strong>VI<strong>**. A MONSTER**

* * *

><p><em>He knew<em>.

_He knew_.

Somehow, Tezuka can't seem to comprehend the thought.

_He knew._

_He knew._

His head was reeling. All of a sudden, his newly-found feelings towards his brother didn't matter, wasn't of consequence, and it didn't even matter that Atobe knew now, nothing mattered, not anymore. He forgot everything, everything but the fact that Persona, standing a few feet away from him, _knew_, somehow, he _knew_ about Syusuke's alice, somehow he found out about it and he _wanted_ it, just like Tezuka had always known he would.

All those missions, all the many nights he couldn't be beside his brother, all the _everything_ he had done these past few years were suddenly all in vain. It left a bitter taste in his mouth that was very, very hard to swallow.

Because Tezuka had tried his hardest, sacrificed so much, and Persona found out, anyway and... and _it wasn't fair_.

It hadn't mattered to Tezuka, all those sleepless nights, all those times when he came back to find Syusuke sleeping with homework finished without his help, all those moments he felt so estranged to his brother, all the stress, all the people he'd made to suffer, all the people he'd _killed_ without so much as a second glance, all the retching, they all hadn't mattered. Because at that time, at the very least, Tezuka was protecting his brother, and was _succeeding_. At that time, at the very least, Persona didn't even _acknowledge_ Syusuke's existence, and Syusuke wouldn't have to be forced to enter Death again, _not again_, not frequently, so Syusuke wouldn't have to spend his nights throwing up what little he ate, being sick, feeling cold, making Tezuka feel so helpless and so powerless, making Tezuka afraid that one day, his body wouldn't be able to take any more of it and he'll die.

He _can't die_, he _can't_, Tezuka won't let him.

Syusuke was all he had left, Syusuke was the only one he'd ever love, and it _should have been enough_.

It wasn't, and Tezuka suddenly felt like he wanted to throw up.

Persona was looking at him with a very, very knowing smile, edged with the wickedness he knew Persona to be capable of.

Person _knew_, he _knew_, and he _knew_ that Tezuka had deliberately hid this information from him, and now, he was extracting his revenge.

_Breathe, just breathe_.

"Aren't I right, Tezuka?" he was asking, but Tezuka barely heard the words, barely _understood_ it, and he couldn't bring himself to answer.

Persona glanced at him again, and this time, there was a twisted edge to his smile. "Leave us, Atobe," he ordered, and Atobe complied, but not before sparing Tezuka a glance Tezuka barely registered.

"Aren't I _right_, Tezuka?" This time he was much, much closer, but Tezuka still didn't answer.

"The Alice of _Death_," Persona said. "An alice that allows Tezuka Syusuke to walk in death, to bring it upon others and undo it. An alice that may very well come once in a million, maybe more, years. A most precious alice I almost _squandered_.

"You wanted me to, didn't you?"

There was an edge in his voice that sounded of danger. But when Tezuka found his voice again, he said, despite all the warning bells in his head, "Yes. I wanted you to." And he prepared himself for the strike that was to come.

Instead of striking though, Persona laughed. It wasn't a very comforting laugh, if anything, it put Tezuka more on edge than ever. "Smart and wily. Dauntless, too." He laughed again. "This is why I favor you, Tezuka."

Tezuka didn't respond, didn't say anything, his body still tensed.

"But sometimes," Persona started, lazily caressing his cheek, digging his black-painted nails in. "Sometimes, Tezuka, it is smarter to recognize fear. And _feel_ it." He drew his arm back and slapped Tezuka. Hard.

Tezuka didn't wince, he _refused_ to.

"I'm not going to ask why," Persona said, lips twisting to a smirk, half-feral, half-sour. "Obviously, I haven't beaten your precious morals out of you as much as I thought. _Familial values_." His tone was dripping with revulsion. "You and your _familial values_," he paused to give another slap. "_Disgust_ me."

He caressed the face again, seemingly calm now. "I am angry, Tezuka," he said, giving a perverse version of a fatherly smile. "But I am also quite pleased. Tell me, what's your brother like?"

Tezuka didn't answer, he didn't _want _to. There was no way Tezuka was going to give Persona anything more than what he already knew about Syusuke. What he knew _already _was more than enough damage, and he wasn't going to say _anything else_. And Persona merely chuckled. "Okay, wrong question. Rephrase: Do you think he'll survive me?" At this, Persona pinched his cheek hard, his nails digging in again, drawing blood.

Tezuka but his lip to keep from answering back.

"No?" Persona asked, his eyes mocking Tezuka. "I thought not. I've seen him, you know." He paused, watching Tezuka's eyes widen. "So... gentle. So... _pure_. Pretty, too.

"It'll be an even prettier sight, seeing him broken, don't you think?"

Tezuka's body stiffened. The anger that he had felt before was reaching its peak, and Tezuka didn't know how much longer he could hold it back, but he _had _to. A rather shaky from anger "No," escaped his tight control, though.

Persona laughed again. "Yes, I know."

Tezuka glanced up in surprise. What did he just say?

"Let me explain this to you in a language you understand," Persona said, with a supercilious tone to his voice. "I _want_ him, Tezuka. I want him very much. And he's more useful to me alive." He let his hand wander from Tezuka's face to his neck, wrapping his fingers around it. "However, I find myself in something of a quandary. You see, keeping away from him was my only means of controlling _you_. You knew that, didn't you?"

Tezuka merely looked away.

Persona squeezed his neck. "Answer."

"Yes, I did."

"Good, good. Smart, like I said," Persona lessened the pressure, though he didn't let go. "That worked out at first, when I didn't know about his precious alice. But now that I _do_, it's a hell of a lot harder to _stay away_."

"It worked out for you before," Tezuka couldn't help pointing out, even though it wasn't the best of ideas. But he was desperate to keep Persona away from Syusuke, to make him forget, just forget, that Syusuke held the Alice of Death.

The pressure on his neck returned. "I just said you were smart, Tezuka. Did you not hear me when I said, _I wanted him_, and very clearly? I _am_ using words you understand, yes? _I want your brother and I very rarely do not get what I want_. Does that make sense?"

"Yes."

"Very good," Persona said, voice all amiable again, letting go of his neck altogether. "So let's strike up a deal right now. I'll take your brother, Tezuka. And you'll behave yourself the way you've always done these past few years. Is that all right?"

Tezuka opened his mouth to answer, _no_, it is most definitely _not all right_, because Tezuka followed Persona only because it kept Syusuke _safe_. What was the point of following him when Syusuke had to suffer, anyway?

Persona held up a hand. "I'm not finished. I'll take your brother and you'll behave yourself. One toe out of line, Tezuka, _one mistake_, and I'll break him. It doesn't matter how useful he'll be to me, _I'll break him_, and I'll do a very thorough job of it. I'll break him and I'll be damned if I don't enjoy every last second. Am I clear, Tezuka?"

It was a _threat_. He was threatening Syusuke, and Tezuka knew Persona would not hesitate to carry it out. His blood was boiling with supressed rage, but what could Tezuka do, when Persona was threatening his brother like this?

"We've already agreed that seeing him broken won't be a pretty sight, and trust me, Tezuka, if it _did_ happen, you're going to wish I'd just killed him," Persona paused, letting him absorb his words. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Tezuka replied bitterly.

Persona smiled. "I knew you'd understand. It was a nice chat, Tezuka, I'll summarize for you: I'll take your brother, you'll be bringing him to me-"

"What?" Tezuka cut him off. It was atrocious. Persona had just _threatened_ Syusuke, had just wrenched Syusuke _away_ from the safe world Tezuka had so carefully carved out for him, surely, _surely_ Persona wasn't expecting _Tezuka _to bring Syusuke to him like a sheep being lead to slaughter?

It was one thing to not be able to protect Syusuke. Now, Persona was asking him to lead Syusuke, all trusting, eyes so, so guileless, to a life he didn't deserve.

He _can't_.

Persona leveled him with a calm, patronizing stare. "Or would you rather I look for him myself?"

No, most definitely not. As bad as it was having to walk Syusuke up to his death, it was infinitely _worse_ to have Persona, himself, confront him. At the very least, if Tezuka brought Syusuke to him, Syusuke wouldn't be _alone_, Tezuka would be with him.

So, Tezuka, as he often found himself doing these past few days, picked the lesser of the two evils. "No, I'll.. I'll bring him to you."

"Excellent. I'll be expecting you, then," Persona said, already at the open doorway. "Have a good day, Tezuka."

./.

Syusuke's head was killing him.

It meant, of course, that he was finally getting better, and he didn't feel like throwing up every other minute anymore, but his head was pounding and his stomach was growling. He didn't know how he could fix those two problems at once, considering how dizzy he still was, and suddenly he found himself wanting to go back to weak and retching again.

He'd have to be at least half-crazy to want _that_.

So now, he was having a very bad headache, he was very hungry and he was half-crazy.

He thought about it, and yes, he decided that weak and retching was very much better.

But then again, he couldn't go back to weak and retching by sheer willpower alone, and he'd have to face the headache-hungry-half-crazy stage _sometime_, it'd probably be better to not procrastinate.

Nii-san always hated it when he procrastinated.

... Nii-san.

He stumbled awkwardly towards the windows and pulled back the drapes by a tiny inch, just in case he'd slept through the entire afternoon and night and it was morning again, but one quick glance revealed that it was still late afternoon, getting on to the evening.

And nii-san still wasn't here, demanding just what the hell he was thinking, going back to death like that, didn't he _know_ how worried his nii-san gets when he's _sick_ from something that could be prevented?

Perhaps _he_ should be worried.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly had a very bad feeling about everything, and he was always right, whenever he got bad feelings. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was linked to death, but bad feelings were bad feelings and this one, in particular, was really bad.

He stumbled to the bathroom, trying to locate where the hell he'd thrown his bag to, so he could find his phone and check.

If nii-san was okay, and in class, he'd probably get a lecture about propriety, too, later, but he was getting a lecture, anyway, what was one more hour, and besides, he doubted it.

He finally spotted the bag, up against the wall behind his bathtub, and he blindly searched the pocket for his phone.

He flipped it open, and checked.

No messages, no calls.

So, he pressed speed dial one and waited anxiously for his brother to pick up, _please_ pick up.

"This is Tezuka," a curt voice answered, and suddenly, even though he knew this meant a lecture, Syusuke felt very, very happy, thank you, _thank you_ so much that he'd been wrong, and his brother was okay, after all.

"I can't answer the phone right now, so leave your name and message after the beep. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

... Oh. It was a recording.

Syusuke felt like crying. "Nii-san," he whispered hoarsely to the phone. "Nii-san, where are you? Are you okay? I... I... Please, just come home."

He hung up before he really did cry on the phone.

./.

Tezuka was _bribing_ people now.

He didn't even think twice about it, he really, _really_ needed it.

There was an underclassman, probably Syusuke's year, and he was in Persona's inner circle, just like him (just like Syusuke will be... no, _shut up_) but he had never really paid any attention to him until now.

He had a mission, and Tezuka wanted it.

He didn't even really have to ask twice, and he very much doubted the kid would be coming up to him to ask for whatever Tezuka had promised him in return for doing the mission himself, but bribing was bribing, even if Tezuka couldn't properly remember the bribe.

He needed to _get out_ and vent his feelings on _something_, or else he'd go crazy.

The people the kid had to assassinate were quite easy to find, and quite easy to isolate and he'd, very easily, disarmed the man who was pointing the gun towards him.

"Did you know?" Tezuka said, grin rivalling Persona's own. "The only people who could shoot are those prepared to get shot themselves."

And he'd made them feel pain. The woman was screaming her throat hoarse, trying to claw her hair out, in an effort to make the pain stop. It didn't, of course. Tezuka only doubled it, and he was disgustedly thinking how _weak_ they all were, crying out from just the _mental_ pain. They were writhing on the ground before welts appeared on their skin, in patterns Tezuka wanted it to. Their blood was soaking the forest floor.

More welts, more blood.

It was a very pretty sight, but it didn't alleviate Tezuka's anger, Tezuka's despair one bit.

The woman was screaming again, and Tezuka disgustedly kicked her body away from him. "Shut _up_," he said, and the woman did, she had no choice, because her throat was suddenly cut open.

The man was begging with what breath he had left, begging, begging.

Tezuka didn't listen.

He intensified the pain even more, listening to his scream, watching the woman choke on her blood. There was a perverse kind of satisfaction gained from strength that came from fear, that came from despair. And Tezuka _liked_ it. He liked the satisfaction of having people whimpering at his feet, having them screaming for his mercy, and because he can't do _this_ to the person he truly wanted to do it to, he let them whimper and scream, pretending they were _him_.

He stood above their writhing bodies, feeling superior, feeling strong, masking the fear and the despair he felt with the facade of strength.

A face flashed into his consciousness.

"_Nii-san!"_

Syusuke. Syusuke with his bright, trusting, loving, wide blue eyes, his face always ready with a smile for him, lightening his day, making him forget everything, every problem, every worry, _everything_ but how much he loved him, and how beautiful he was, smiling for him like that.

A smile just for him.

...

It was very dark when he came to himself, staring at the ground so filled with blood. But there weren't any bodies anywhere, and Tezuka wasn't bleeding himself, so where did all that blood come from?

Tezuka didn't know, and he couldn't find the strength to care. Then, the next thing he knew, he was in the Academy again, in the forest of trees near his dorm.

There was blood soaking his uniform, but he wasn't bleeding.

_How?_

He reached into his pocket and felt for his handkerchief. Instead, there was his phone.

He held it up blankly, and found a call reverted to voice mail.

From _Syusuke_.

He played it.

"_Nii-san. Nii-san, where are you? Are you okay? I... I... Please, just come home."_

It could barely be heard, his voice was so hoarse. He must have been crying.

Syusuke... Syusuke...

_I'm so sorry_.

And then, he suddenly felt all the afternoon's events catch up to him, Persona taunting him, threatening Syusuke, _him_ torturing and killing those two people.

It was the last recollection that made him wince.

He... didn't... just... He _did_. He'd tortured them and killed them, and he'd been laughing the entire time.

He couldn't breathe.

He clutched his phone tightly, and played it again.

"_Nii-san. Nii-san, where are you? Are you okay? I... I... Please, just come home."_

Syusuke's voice was so gentle, even hoarse like this. He was worried about him. Syusuke was worried about _him_.

He played it again, and the message dutifully repeated itself.

"_Nii-san. Nii-san, where are you? Are you okay? I... I... Please, just come home."_

He could see the dorms in the distance, but he let himself stay in the cover of the trees. He leaned against one and slid down slowly, playing the message again.

He played it again and again the entire night, listening to his brother's voice he loved so much, wondering, thinking how Syusuke could love, how he could expect Syusuke to love, how he could expect Syusuke to receive love from a monster like himself.

* * *

><p>Clary: I MISS YOU LIIIIAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Everybody wants you to get better, don't they? Don't you everyone?

Rien is going crazy. He's in Germany and he called here spending I don't know how much money just so he could yell Elle's (and my) ears off. He wants to get the next flight here and 'monitor Lia's conditon' but Lia told him that it was 'unnecessary' and that if he does it anyway, Lia's not going to be talking to him ever again for spending money over such 'unnecessary' things.

Rien listened to her of course but when we went outside to talk to him, he started yelling at me and Elle, going "WHO THE HELL TOLD LIA SHE WAS UNNECESSARY?", sounding extremely fucked off and ready to drag said person to hell and back. I swear, Rien loves his sisters (especially Lia, who's the youngest) very much, it's illegal. If he ever gets married, his wife would have to share him with at least two other girls (Elle and Lia, but mostly Lia).

It's so UNFAIR! Why is Rien all loving and protective with his sisters while Nate is... not? I want a brother like Rien~~~~

GET WELL SOON, LIA. I'M NOT GONNA WRITE ANOTHER DAMN WORD UNLESS YOU GET BETTER, and fuck do I mean it. I even made an effort to lessen my profanities so you better GET BETTER bitch, I'm not going to forgive you EVER if you die, damn it. I'm not going to make a fucking eulogy and spout the 'she was such a good friend' crap during your wake because if you died, you aren't much of a good friend AT ALL, are you? So get your ass BETTER.

... Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~~~ Liaaaaaa, get better PLEASE~~~~~~

Everyone please let's all tell Lia just how much we all miss her~~~~~~~~


	8. VII Long Morning

Clary: Let's all wecome back: LIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA~~~ (cheers)

Lia: ...

Clary: Lia, you're supposed to say something~ We're celebrating your life, you know~~~~ (bubbly with joy)

Lia: ...

Clary: Lia... Are you still mad at me?

Lia: Stupid question. I read the last chapter, Issa, and your author's notes. You made it sound like I was DYING.

Clary: But, Lia, I was really worried about you~~~~~~

Lia: And you apparently know more than the doctors because you didn't deem them right when they said I was going to be okay. I WASN'T DYING! (And I have a lower than normal platelet count in the first place, it's just that it lowered down even more because I was sick).

Clary: Okay fine. FINE. I'm sorry, Lia, for being a good friend. Apparently, I'm not supposed to worry about you when you're sick because you'd go into bitch-mode.

Lia: I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Issa.

Clary: Everyone was really worried about you, you know. You saw their messages. You don't have to be a bitch about it. (grumbles)

Lia: I know, I saw. Thank you guys, so much. I'm a whole lot better now (mostly because Issa was exaggerating on my condition) and your thoughts touched me very much.

Clary: Awwwwwweeeeee... Lia is touched~~ (We're friends again, right Lia?)

Lia: (sighs) Yes, yes, Issa, we're friends.

Clary: Yey~ (The first part of this chapter happened because I was deliriously happy, by the way, please excuse it~~~)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (who got her ass better, thank God), Alatarielf (thank you so much~~~ we love you~~~ Lia was touched~~~), Shuzuka (thanks sooo much~~~ we think Syusuke will still love Tezuka, too~ Clary thinks that yes, you should definitely yell at Lia, _someone_ has to do it), neumegami (mou, we wish we could draw as well as you could, that drawing was AWESOME and don't let other people tell you otherwise, if they do, we'll beat them up for you~), phoenixfirekitsune (yey~ we think Persona is a jerk, too~~~ Lia's fine and dandy now, thank you so much for your encouragement), kolachess (yes, we're suckers for sweet Syusuke, strong Tezuka fics, too~~ kyaaa~~), lemon-and-chai (thanks so much~ we'll try our bestest~~~), sotfreakazoid (thank you for you get well wish~~~ Lia's fine now and Clary's gonna continue on with the story~~ we hope you like this one~~)

* * *

><p><strong>VII<strong>**. LONG MORNING**

* * *

><p>Sleeping in the bathroom probably wasn't a good idea.<p>

Syusuke felt cold again, and his dizziness had intensified, and his head was still _pounding_ like crazy. He didn't know if this was how people felt like, when they had hang-overs and he didn't want to, because if this was what a hang-over feels like, he'd rather not drink at all.

He'd had more than enough of his share of the experience and he hadn't even drunk _anything_ remotely alcoholic yet.

... Great. So now, his mind was wandering.

That wasn't a particularly good thing and he suspected he won't be able to come to class today (_again_). He groaned.

He shuffled back to his room and gingerly sat on his bed. He didn't want to lie down, not yet, it would probably only worsen his headache. He noticed he was still clutching his phone. He squinted at it, trying to see if there was any return call.

There was none.

Syusuke didn't know if he should feel disappointed or worried. Maybe a little of both.

He hadn't heard from his brother in almost two days, and while it was good that his nii-san wouldn't get to see him like this, it wasn't good that his nii-san might be in trouble.

He hadn't heard the door open and close either.

But when he turned around, his nii-san was there, by his bed, hair more messy than normal, eyes almost... blank and... and... clothes soaked with _blood_.

He immediately went to him, despite the headache and the dizziness, they didn't matter, right now, it was only his nii-san that mattered. His brother, who was _bleeding_.

He had a hard time breathing. "Nii-san... What _happened_?" he asked, reaching out to touch the bloodied clothes.

There was a flash in his brother's eyes, before they settled on the floor. "It's not my blood."

Oh. _Oh._ He wasn't hurt. But... who, then? "Who...?"

His brother turned to him at the question, eyes beseeching.

"Nii-san?"

"Syusuke."

It was all he heard before he was enveloped in his brother's hug.

His breath came out in a gasp.

Nii-san had hugged him before, many times, and this was the same and yet... different.

Despite the fact that he was cold, and so was his nii-san and his nii-san was wet, the hug was warm to Syusuke and it did... strange things to his body. There was some kind of fluttering in his stomach, and his blood was tingling, and his skin was tingling, too, where they touched. His heart was pounding wildly against his ribs, there was pounding all over, his head was reeling and his face was filling with warmth. He'd never felt this before (or perhaps he had, and just hadn't noticed it), but he liked it. He liked the fluttering, the tingling, the pounding, the warmth, best of all he liked being in his brother's arms like this.

He closed his eyes and smiled, reveling in the warmth.

And abrubtly, the warmth was gone, his nii-san was pulling away and all Syusuke could think about was _no_, _come back, _he _wanted_ it, and he opened his eyes, willing his brother to come back, _don't leave, please don't leave_.

"Syusuke."

There was a strange, unidentifiable tone to his brother's voice that Syusuke could not place, but he stopped thinking again, because nii-san was clutching his face with both hands, looking at him through warm, loving eyes, leaning his forehead against Syusuke's.

Nii-san's hands were warm, too, and they felt nice against his cheeks like this. They were so, so close, Syusuke could feel his brother's breath against his face, his lashes fluttered against his brother's cheeks, Syusuke's forehead was tingling where it met with his brother's, and Syusuke raised his head a little so he could see his brother's eyes.

"Nii-"

He wasn't able to finish because by then, his brother's lips were against his. They were warm, too, and soft, and the feeling of it against his lips made him very, very aware of how much his blood was tingling, his heart was pounding, his head was reeling.

His brother was _kissing_ him, he realized, and his nii-san was holding his face against him, his grip was so strong, Syusuke couldn't pull away even if he wanted to, and he _didn't_ want to.

A very, very small, very, very rational part of his mind was screaming at him that this was his _brother_, this was very, very wrong, but it was easily overpowered by the much larger part of his mind telling him just how wonderful it felt to have his brother's lips against him like this, how nicely their bodies melded together, how good it felt to be loved like this by the person he, too, loved the most.

His body moved before he could even comprehend it. He was responding to his brother's kiss, his hands came up to tangle with his brother's hair, silky and smooth, he pressed closer and he couldn't get enough. _He wanted this_, and it was all he knew right now. He loved his brother and he wanted this.

He always had, he just didn't know it, but he always had.

His knees buckled and they fell down on the bed in a tangle of limbs, but the kisses never stopped, never gave any sign of stopping, and Syusuke, lying underneath his brother, could only think of how _happy_ he felt and how perfect it all was.

"Nii-san," he whispered against his brother's lips.

His brother tightened his hold. "Syusuke," his nii-san whispered back, with so much warmth and so much tenderness, Syusuke felt his heart bursting with love.

There were tears forming in his eyes, happy tears, joyful tears. "Kunimitsu," he sighed in between kisses, trying to convey the love, the warmth, the joy, the _everything_. "Kunimitsu."

He was dizzy again, but it was a good kind of dizzy and he didn't mind it at all, with Kunimitsu kissing, loving him like this.

"Syusuke."

It was so, so beautiful and Syusuke couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.

"Kunimitsu."

He lifted his face and nuzzled it against his Kunimitsu's own, feeling him trailing kisses all over his face, feeling so, so loved, and he was thinking about how it was the best feeling in the entire world, before everything went black.

./.

Yukimura watched as Chitose took one sip of his coffee and scowled.

"This has got to be the worst coffee I've ever tasted in my entire life," Chitose commented, rifling through the diner's complimentary condiments, looking for a pack of sugar.

"I know," Yukimura smiled condescendingly, before turning to glance out the window of the diner. "That's why I didn't taste it." He indicated his untouched coffee cup.

Chitose made a face. "Have I told you that I don't like you?" he asked, tearing another sugar packet open. "Why the hell did you not tell me?"

Yukimura shrugged. "Would you have listened?"

"No," Chitose replied, raising the cup to his lips again.

Yukimura watched him as he winced.

"_Now_, it's too sweet."

"How many sugar packets did you _put_ in it?"

Chitose glanced at the torn remains of the packets he'd placed at the table. "Um," he paused, counting. "Six." He glared down at the packets, as if it was all their fault. "I didn't think they were _that_ sweet." He stared at his coffee for a moment and sighed. "Gimme your cup."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want more coffee?"

Chitose glared at him from across the table. "I don't _want_ coffee, I _need_ coffee, if you don't want me to fall over and die because you're too much of a prude to just go in _there_," he jabbed his finger at the window, pointing to the high rise commercial building across the street. "And nab the stupid bitch who's causing us so much trouble."

Yukimura twitched. Atobe and Chitose were, in very many ways, alike and though Yukimura had tried to overlook that these past hours, he was losing patience very quickly, and it didn't help _at all_ that Chitose had just managed to say Atobe's favorite pet name for him _and_ question his decision (_again_) in the same sentence.

"Language, Chitose," he snapped, looking at the building again.

Chitose grumbled from across the table. "Kuranosuke's not here, I can say whatever I fucking want to." Then he grabbed the cup without waiting for Yukimura's permission anyway, and Yukimura was reminded (_again_) of how alike Chitose and Atobe were.

Any longer and he won't be able to stand it. "You _do_ know I can tell him, right? We sit right across each other at breakfast."

Chitose lifted his head and glared at him again. "Fuck you."

"No, thank you," he replied, eyes still on the building.

He was deeply regretting deciding to have a stakeout outside the building the shadows had led him to, tracking the immortal woman who'd had a look at the files of some of the Academy's best students. Chitose had wanted to get a disguise and go in there, get the girl and go, but Yukimura held him back. The shadows were even more restless in this area, whatever that immortal was involved in or whoever she worked for was not anything good. And Yukimura didn't want to press his luck, only to find himself failing and losing the element of surprise they had just so Chitose could play pretend-spy.

He wanted to get the job done as much as Chitose does (lord knows how much he _wanted_ to) but he wanted to get it done with less uproar. This was probably a secret thing in the Academy and they didn't need the news of the break-in to leak out because he couldn't stand a stakeout with Chitose, who he found to be an Atobe mini-me without Shiraishi to keep him in line.

"It still doesn't taste good."

Yukimura glanced at the table, counting the torn packets. "Of course it doesn't. You've only put two in."

"Well, there aren't any more," Chitose ground out.

"What, did you expect them to have an unlimited supply of sugar packets?"

"No, I expected them to have _enough_."

"Eight _is_ enough."

"Not with _this _kind of coffee."

Yukimura wanted to scream. He suddenly wished he wasn't partnered with Chitose Senri, of all people, and next time, he would make sure he never was, Chitose was so much like Atobe, he couldn't _stand_ it.

"So ask for more," he nodded his head to the waitress, who was sashaying her way to a table, smiling seductively at the customer there.

Chitose followed his gaze. "I'm not flirting again with _that_ bitch."

"_Language_, Chitose," he snapped again. "Besides, you just have to ask for more sugar packets. It doesn't _entail_ flirting. No one told you to flirt with the girl in the first place."

"She _started_ it," Chitose narrowed his eyes. "Don't you see how she _flirts_ with every single man in the damn diner?"

"Yes, I see that," Yukimura answered, rolling his eyes. "But she wouldn't if you don't flirt _back_."

"I can't _not_ flirt back. It's in my nature."

... Yukimura's hands were twitching underneath the table. He was so close to strangling the kid, he was _so much_ like Atobe, he had the urge to _kill_ him and have done with it. "What is it with you and asking questions?" He said this with the sweetest voice he could muster and hoped that Chitose had enough primal instincts to be aware of _danger_.

"What is it with _you_ and bitches?" Obviously not.

This was going to be a long day.

./.

Chizuru examined her hair in her dresser mirror again.

It looked pretty enough, and she was quite satisfied with the way her sandy locks had been twisted so that they resembled a ribbon, somewhat, though she still felt like she should have put more wax. Still, it looked pretty without ornaments, so it was probably okay.

She glanced at Hinako sitting on her couch, wearing a green, flattering dress, nuzzling her cat, Munin. Chizuru had gotten the Siamese cat in France, and Munin had been with her for a long time, so of course, Hinako had taken a liking to Munin, too.

She stood up, smoothing the wrinkles of her kimono. Today it was pinkish-white with the design of a bridge over water and little carrages passing over it near the hem and a bright red obi. It was a little looser than usual, because she suspected some sort of a fight today. There was a selection of lacquered okobo by her door, too, because she didn't want to get her kimono dirty.

Her long katana was in its sheath by the door as well.

"Seems like you're in some kind of trouble," Hinako commented, playing with Munin's paws.

Chizuru took small steps towards her room's huge floor-to-ceiling windows. "No, not particularly."

"That's your battle kimono," Hinako informed her, looking very wise for it, though Chizuru didn't know why. She didn't have a 'battle kimono,' she had _kimonos_ and then some.

"I don't have a battle kimono." She was starting to feel exasperated.

"Yes, you do." Hinako was talking to Munin now. Chizuru didn't know whether or not to be offended that she'd been passed over for a _cat_, even a cat she loved as much as Munin. "When we have to fight people, you wear your pinkish-white kimonos. And okobo, too." She tilted her head to the general direction of the door.

"I don't want them to get _stained_," Chizuru said, peering out the window. They were still there. She'd felt their aura this morning, and those auras were still quite familiar, considering it hadn't been a long time since she had gone to the Academy to have a look at their files. It seemed they found out, though how they did, she didn't know. She'd been sure to leave it the way it was before she touched anything.

There were only two, but they were still a problem that she had to eliminate. And no way in hell was she going to let her kimono get _dirty_.

"Why? It's not like you can't get new ones," Hinako said, like the child she was because Hinako didn't see that the problem with new ones were that they didn't look and feel as nice as the kimonos of Ancient Japan, and they felt, to Chizuru's sensitive skin, like fakes.

"I don't _want_ new ones."

Hinako put Munin down and went to stand beside her. "You are impossible sometimes."

"So are you."

"Ashikaga-san is trying to go in Death again today." Well, that was out of the blue.

"I know," Chizuru replied, still staring at the diner some floors below.

"Aren't you going?" Hinako was _pressing_ and Chizuru knew why, and she wasn't going give Hinako what she wanted.

"He didn't ask me to." Chizuru turned to look at her companion. "Stop trying to distract me."

"How many?" Hinako asked this time, sighing and taking one last look at the diner across the street before sauntering over to her dresser.

Chizuru watched her. "Just two."

Hinako had picked up one of her favorite hair ornaments, a cluster of freshwater pearls at the end of a long pin. "... Can I help?" There. That was what she had wanted all along.

"No, it's my problem," Chizuru replied as Hinako picked up an emerald obi brooch. "You've had your fun."

Hinako turned to her, pouting. "_Mou_, it wasn't _that_ fun. They didn't even put up too much of a fight."

"It's my problem," she repeated, making her way to the door. Best to just get this over with. She turned a critical eye at the different okobo lined up neatly, before selecting the one in the center, polished to perfect shiny black. She grabbed her katana and turned back to Hinako. "Do you want to borrow that?"

Hinako grinned at her, already pinning the brooch to her dress. "Pretty," she breathed.

Chizuru's mouth quirked up to a smile. "I know."

"You've still got to make up to me, Yurehime," Hinako said, bouncing towards the door. "Blood is so much prettier than an emerald obi brooch."

./.

There it was, the Fifth Gate.

It looked exactly like before, though he knew he shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't his first time in Death, and it wasn't his first time on this part of the river. It wasn't anything new, and he had stopped feeling the fear that came naturally to a person not blessed with the power to walk in these waters. Tons of research has provided him with more than enough information about Death's rivers, he felt as if he had always been _meant_ to walk here.

He still had a ways to go before the Seventh Gate, where he would finally meet his prize, but he can be patient. He'd been patient for such a long time, what more was a few minutes?

He'd come here before, with exactly the same intent as right now, but he'd never succeeded. Yet.

He was getting on to be quite confident that today, he'd do it, and that damn Academy would finally be gone.

Somehow, today, it didn't feel so much ambitious as it was real and very, very reachable.

He just needed to be able to awaken that Greater Dead, chained beyond the Seventh Gate and then he'd be more than unstoppable. Probably not even Persona and his precious kid lackeys can stop him, he'd command an entire army of dead and he'd be unreachable in death, himself. It had been a well-formed dream and he'd be damned if it wouldn't become a fully-realized plan.

All he needed, after all, was that Greater Dead.

And then no one could stop him.

Persona didn't have anything that could. No one, nobody. He'd killed off that entire thrice-accursed clan for a reason, he didn't want anyone to interfere, no one, absolutely _no one_ was going to stop him.

There was no one else in this entire fucking world that could walk in death, not like this, not after the extermination of the Academy's pet favorites. They were dead, all of them, he'd killed them all off himself, men, women and children.

No one will be able to touch him. Not anymore, not after this.

He stared at the Fifth Gate victoriously, already feeling the satisfaction he knew was to come.

At long last, finally. _Fina-_

... A jolt on his shoulder awakened him so that he found himself once again in his body in the real world. Not in death, but _in the real world_. He was _almost there_, what the _fuck_ were they _thinking_, disturbing him like this?

"What the _fuck_, Murakami!" he roared, grabbing the hand on his shoulder and shoving it powerfully away from him.

There was a minute crash and something green, before he realized that it wasn't Murakami who'd awakened him and jolted him out of death.

It was Hinako. All green, from her strapless little dress, to her eyes and her brooch and an antrocious-looking headband that kept firm control over her brown, newly-bobbed hair. There was red soaking the skirt of the dress, though, and on her skinny little arms, she was clutching large shears that had embedded itself on her abdomen.

She was glaring at him through slitted green eyes. "It hit my intestine, I think." She pulled out the shears with a small wince, and threw them all the way to the other side of the whitewashed room, immediately looking down and examining her dress in dismay.

He sat up from his lying position in the only bed in the room and moved to straighten his clothes. "What the fuck are you doing here, Hinako?"

She looked at her dress again and peered at him through long, curled lashes. "You're not even sorry. _Mou_, Ashikaga-san, you hit my _intestine_." She began flapping her arms around for emphasis. "Intestine injuries are _fatal_ injuries." She looked at him again, and probably because she wasn't getting the reaction she wanted, she said, again, "_Fatal_," with so much more emphasis.

"Fatal, if you were a normal person," he started standing up, giving her a critical gaze. He wasn't even sure there was such a thing as 'intestine injuries', he was pretty sure if normal humans had their intestines cut open by shears like that, they'd be dead, instead of having 'intestine injuries' and whining about it. "Which you're not. You'll live."

She scowled. "My dress is ruined. It's my favorite color, too. And it's _silk, and_ as far as I know, this was the last one they had._ And_ I got this brooch from Chizu-nee," she pointed at the brooch on the upper part of her dress. "It matches _perfectly_. What am I going to do with the brooch now?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose to keep from exploding. "That's not my problem. You were the one who _distracted_ me from a very, very important-"

"It's not as if I _wanted_ to." She picked herself up from where she was sprawled with all the other medical equipment on the floor. "Murakami-nii told me to. He said something about something being wrong and um..." She paused, pouting at the ceiling. "Well, I don't remember what exactly, but he said to bring you back, so I pinched you."

It seemed like every time she showed up to annoy him, she always had the protection of 'Murakami-nii told me to do this' or 'Murakami-nii said to do that'. He was going to have to give Murakami a good talking to, the guy shouldn't depend on a kid like her too much. "You're the worst person to deliver news, Hinako."

"I'm not happy," she said, stomping her foot, and pointing towards the blood soaking her dress. She should be completely healed by now, but there was nothing anybody could do about the tear on the left or the blood. "The least you could do is say sorry."

"I'm not sorry," he said, moving towards the door, wanting aspirin. "Where is Chizuru?"

She looked up from inspecting her dress for the nth time. "Huh?" she asked distractedly.

Great. Now the dress was more important. The last time he saw her, it was a lollipop, now it was a dress. He had the urge to strangle her, and made a mental note to tell Chizuru to keep her away from him for the next few weeks lest he does anything drastic. "Where is Chizuru?"

"Oh, somewhere."

"I'd like something more specific than somewhere, Hinako."

"I don't _know_ where, what the hell do you want me to say?" she demanded, just like the child she was. "She went out a few minutes ago, something about two Academy brats trailing her, and how it's none of my business so I should just keep my head out of it." She looked at him darkly. "She never lets me in on any of the _fun_."

"What?" Did they _know_ what he was planning?

Hinako took one long look at his expression and grinned. "_Relax_, Ashikaga-san, Chizu-nee thinks it's about the break-in. How they found out, I don't know, and I don't really feel like knowing, but they do, and they trailed her."

"Is that all? What else did she say?"

"She says she'll take care of it." Hinako's expression was dark again, probably thinking about how she was 'missing out on the fun'. "And she'll bring you a souvenir. She says to tell you that Persona will be having two less brats to do his bidding."

"Ah," he said, feeling relaxed again. "She would say that. That's a nice souvenir."

"Actually," Hinako called. "She wanted to chop their heads off for making her dirty her kimono. I told her you'd like it. Was I wrong?"

"No," he replied, smirking despite himself. "You're absolutely right. Though it'd make even more wonderful souvenir for Persona, don't you think?"

"Oooh," Hinako cooed, giggling. "I like the way you think, Ashikaga-san."

* * *

><p>Clary: The Siamese (Munin) in this chapter is in honor of Lia's cat who I love very much. (And who worried over Lia with me~)<p>

Lia: She spoils him. I think she's the reason why he's becoming fat.

Clary: (gasps) How can you say that about such an AWESOMELY cute cat? Monsieur Peluche is the best cat in the whole wide world and he's not fat!

Lia: I said BECOMING fat. I didn't say Monsieur Peluche was fat. YOU were the one who said he was becoming fat, if I remember correctly.

Clary: I said I THINK. My exact words were "Lia, is it me or is Monsieur Peluche becoming heavier? (pause) Oh, well~ I think it's just me. I haven't been cuddling him as frequently these days."

Lia: I don't remember you ever saying that. What I remember, though, was: "Lia, Nate says Monsieur Peluche is becoming fat."

Clary: Then, that's NATE. That's not me.

Lia: It still came out of YOUR mouth Clarissa. Face it, you are LOSING this argument and there's nothing you can do about it.

Clary: FINE. But you can't do anything about the fact that Monsieur Peluche LOVES ME.

Lia: That wasn't what the argument was about.

Clary: Whatever.

Reviews are appreciated. Monsieur Peluche will love you guys~


	9. Short Story 2: I Wish

**A LITTLE SHORT STORY NUMBAH TWO~**

Written by: Clary (with help from Resa and Ani~ :)

Dedicated to: Lia, who isn't dying after all~

* * *

><p><strong>I WISH..<strong> _(Tezuka at fourteen, Syusuke at thirteen)_

* * *

><p>"It tastes fine."<p>

Syusuke looked up from where he had been measuring the exact amount of vanilla with a spoon and regarded Keigo with a thoughtful little frown.

Normally, something that went along the same lines as 'it tastes fine' would be a gracious compliment, coming from Keigo, who had 'the most magnificent and well-refined pallet in the entire world' (and who only ate what his personal chefs had taken great care to serve him) and normally, Syusuke would have felt complimented, even pleased and flattered, but it wasn't much of a compliment now after five grueling batches of fondant chocolates, each with different variations, each looking better than the last, but all getting nothing more from Keigo but an 'it tastes fine'.

Syusuke was getting exasperated.

"You said the exact same thing to the last four batches," Syusuke informed Keigo quietly, watching him lounge on the plush armchair (that had magically appeared in the Home Ec room the day Syusuke decided to make something nice for his brother's return and _coincidentally_ had Keigo's initials engraved on its gold carvings).

"I guess that's it for this recipe, then." Senri, all the way across the room, legs dangling from the counter he was sitting on, chuckled. Deliberately, he crumpled up the fifth fondant recipe he had been holding and tossed it up on a graceful arc towards the trash can. Keigo took one look at the paper and it promptly burst into flames.

And landed on Syusuke's previously immaculate sink.

Syusuke sighed and moved to put the fire out.

"That's because that's what it tastes like, Syusuke," Keigo replied, looking very much amused. "It tastes fine."

"Doesn't it taste like..." Syusuke turned on the faucet. "Like, I don't know, anything else?"

Keigo gave him a superior grin. "It won't taste as delicious as _you_ would, if that's what you're asking."

Syusuke's faced reddened faster than he ever thought it possible. "_Keigo_... can you _not_?" This was the beginning of what had been a long-running conversation with Keigo that had started ever since he'd turned thirteen, because apparently, Keigo deemed that age to be the right age to knock someone up (or get knocked up, whichever works, according to Keigo). Nii-san hated it but he couldn't stop Keigo if he wanted to, no one could, not really, so just about every hour of every day of every moment Syusuke spent with Keigo, he got informal sex education classes. With Keigo as the teacher.

Enough said. (No, not really. Keigo was horribly experienced, for a boy of fourteen, and he claimed it was healthy and proper, though how being promiscuous was proper for a boy of fourteen, Syusuke didn't know. At any rate, he was experienced and he experimented _a lot_, and he had a very, very, very active sex life, which he made sure to share to Syusuke in horribly graphic details every single time they met. And no, Syusuke didn't enjoy it, not one bit, because if Syusuke had wanted to hear about how Keigo really enjoyed his 'sessions' with Ami or Rika or Karen or pretty much every other girl in Keigo's year, he was pretty sure he'd ask, except that he didn't because he _didn't_ want to hear, but of course, Keigo didn't care, so he heard all about them, anyway.)

"Ah, but ore-sama has a wonderful idea."

With the way Keigo lifted his eyebrows, obviously waiting for him to ask what said wonderful idea was, Syusuke got the feeling that he didn't want to know.

Unfortunately, Senri did.

"What's the idea?"

"We could just tie Syusuke up in his birthday suit with a big bright bow and present him to Tezuka. It is but perfect," Keigo declared slyly, sharing something of a victorious look with Senri.

Not that Syusuke saw it. Or heard what he'd just said. Keigo lost Syusuke somewhere around the phrase that meant _naked_.

"What... _what_..." he managed to sputter out, and no one could blame him if that was probably the only words he was capable of at the moment because he was pretty _sure_ that Keigo had just implied... implied something that _sounded_ like he wanted Syusuke to have _sex_... have sex with his _nii-san_.

And that sounded pretty wrong, sex and nii-san (especially _his_ nii-san) should never be used in the same sentence.

Ever.

Keigo turned to him and shrugged. "Ore-sama is just _saying_.."

"Just.. saying.. _what_, exactly..?" Syusuke choked out, trying to not hyperventilate in the Home Ec room and wind up in the infirmary (again) while nii-san was not around.

"You're thirteen and you're a _virgin_."

It amazed Syusuke how Keigo managed to make the word sound so... _degrading_ and as a response, Syusuke flinched away from him. "That's _bad_?"

Keigo looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Of _course_ it's bad!" he exploded. "You're _thirteen_, you're pretty, people are falling over each other just to get a kiss from you. Ore-sama would have expected you to _sleep_ with _someone_ by now, staying the way you currently are is a gross insult of your beauty, not to mention ore-sama's tutelage."

"Your tutelage?" Senri repeated, looking from him to Keigo incredulously.

Keigo sniffed. "Ore-sama graciously offered his magnificent services the moment Syusuke turned thirteen. And for free, too. It is a rare opportunity that ore-sama offers such privileges. And to see it go to _waste_..."

"Fuck, Keigo."

"But nii-san's fourteen and he hasn't..." Syusuke's voice died in his throat. He swallowed once and tried again. "Seiichi, too..."

Keigo gave him a sharp look. "Of _course_, he hasn't. Who would want to sleep with that _bitch_?"

"A lot of people," Senri replied for him. "I'll have you know that there are many students in this academy that equal Yukimura's beauty with yours and-"

"Chitose Senri," Keigo growled through clenched teeth, whirling around to face Senri. "If you value your life, ore-sama advises you to tread very, _very_ carefully, ore-sama shall _not_ be placed under the same category as that _bitch_."

"But you are, aren't you?" Senri asked, grinning cheekily. "You're both Dangerous Types. Isn't that 'the same category'?"

Keigo gave a sound he normally wouldn't have given, were he not annoyed, but he was annoyed and he would probably regret it later. Right now, though, he was concentrating on burning Senri to a crisp.

He didn't do a good job about it, mostly because Senri was always one step ahead of him, laughing and teasing and being his usual self. It was a flurry of fire and laughter and Syusuke didn't pay attention to most of it, except at the very end, because Keigo had almost burned Kuranosuke's face when Kuranosuke had tried to enter the room. He'd raised an eyebrow at the damage but Senri only sailed effortlessly past him to the corridor, and furious Keigo followed swiftly behind.

"Should I ask?"

Syusuke shook his head mutely, his face still flaming.

He felt a hand ruffle his hair and looked up to see Kuranosuke standing in front of him, giving him something of an encouraging smile. "Don't mind it, whatever they said to you," he told Syusuke in his usual low tone. "You know better than to."

Of course he did. Syusuke nodded and smiled at Kuranosuke. "Thank you," he said softly, taking a deep, calming breath.

They stayed quiet for a moment as Kuranosuke took in the appearance of the Home Ec room. "What were you-"

"Baking," Senri replied, leaning easily on the doorframe, grinning at Keigo, acting all chummy with him, as if Keigo hadn't just tried to burn him to the ground a few minutes ago. It was always how it went, so Syusuke wasn't even surprised.

"Baking?" Kuranosuke parroted.

"For Tezuka," Senri said, sharing a look with Keigo. "Isn't he absolutely precious? Syusuke, the little brother who thought big brother Tezuka hung the sun and the moon-"

"Senri," Kuranosuke interrupted sharply, giving Senri the look. Senri deflated obediently.

But Syusuke only laughed, smiling softly at his friends and their attempt to cheer him up. "You forgot the stars."

./.

Persona made them do things they normally wouldn't do at such young ages.

Yukimura had been seven the first time he'd made death threats, rearranged crime scenes, lied to police officers. He was ten when he'd first started to torture information out of people. At twelve, he was a master of pretend, lying his way out of situations, seeing the most private of moments before his eyes.

At fourteen, Persona decided to make them do something very essential if he ever wanted to make them a useful tool.

At fourteen, Yukimura killed a man for the first time in his life.

And he was desperately trying to black it out. And nothing was working.

He found himself blindly stumbling to a place only his body knew where, and he didn't care right now, because he'd just _killed_ somebody, he was a murderer now, he was _fourteen_ and a murderer and Persona had been damn well _pleased_ but he wasn't and all he wanted to do was throw up and-

"Seiichi?"

Yukimura stumbled back a few steps. Oh, god, had he been walking to _Syusuke's_ room? Why the _hell_ would he want to let Syusuke _see_ him like this? Why the hell would he... would he want to _let_ Syusuke see the murderer that he had become?

What was he thinking?

"Seiichi, is something wrong?" Syusuke's face came into view, innocent and sweet, and so _pure_ and so clean, it made Yukimura feel so _dirty_.

"I... I need a moment," he managed to gasp, backing away, wanting to be anywhere but here.

Syusuke's eyebrows knitted together with worry. He walked towards Yukimura, reaching out a hand, and Yukimura just backed away, feeling every bit of guilt heavy in his heart. "No, Syusuke, just-" _Leave. Please just leave_.

"Seiichi, I want to help." Syusuke moved forward again, reaching, always reaching. "Please?"

Yukimura gave in, of course he would give in, he always did, he never had much strength as far as Syusuke was concerned, Syusuke didn't know it, but Yukimura was wrapped completely around his little finger.

He didn't even hesitate.

"I killed someone today," he informed Syusuke, looking away, not wanting to see the fear or the judgment in his eyes.

It was quiet for a very long time and Seiichi let that silence oppress him, as it should, because he was a killer now and he deserved it.

He felt so cold.

"Oh," he heard Syusuke's belated reply. It was his only warning before quick steps echoed harshly down the silent corridor and Syusuke suddenly stood before him, body trembling with an emotion Yukimura couldn't place. Syusuke raised his hand and drew it back, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the strike to come.

"You want me to do this, don't you, Seiichi?"

Yukimura opened his eyes again. Syusuke was looking up to him, eyes closed, a small bitter smile in his face.

"Seiichi wants me to slap him, to judge him, to condemn him for something he had no control over," Syusuke paused, taking Yukimura's hand and giving it a soft slap. "And I would have done it, if it was what Seiichi needed.

"But it's not."

Syusuke squeezed his hand once and tugged at it lightly. "Come to my room?" he offered, with his usual pleading tone.

Yukimura felt the weight in his heart ease, even by just a little. He managed a small smile for Syusuke and let himself be pulled by the one person in the world he would die to protect.

./.

Syusuke's room was exactly the way he'd left it. Immaculately neat, once he overlooked the strips of paper littering the floor.

Kisaragi-san had given them to him, had given him lots of them, in one of her I'll-get-you-to-fall-in-love-with-me-someday schemes. She'd had many, in varied approaches, but this was the one that he had liked best.

Origami.

She taught him everything he knew, and they'd spent many afternoons folding paper after paper together, making turtles and fishes and bunnies and flowers. He liked lotuses the best and he had an entire section of his bedroom dedicated especially for those flowers. He'd thanked her for the lessons and she'd beamed brightly whenever he did.

She didn't realize he only liked origami because they distracted him enough so he wouldn't have to worry about his nii-san, who had gone almost as long as Seiichi had.

And still hadn't come back.

Seiichi followed him into his room, absently avoiding the pieces of folded papers, though not commenting on anything before he slumped down on the low coffe table, sighing softly. Syusuke sat beside him and waited.

"I don't know what to think anymore, Syusuke," Seiichi said silently, curling tighter into himself. "I don't... know."

Syusuke leaned his head against Seiichi's shoulder. "Ne, Seiichi?" he called, just as quietly. "Can I ask you something?"

He paused, waiting for a reply that Seiichi did not give. He exhaled softly and asked, anyway. "Did you... Did Persona just point at someone walking down the street and ask you to kill him?"

Seiichi stiffened, before bursting into hysterical giggles. "Are you trying to be funny?" Seiichi lifted his head and glared at him a little. "Of course not. I... He asked me to... The guy was an enemy of the Academy."

Syusuke smiled at him. "Then that's okay, isn't it? You're not killing innocent bystanders. You're killing enemies of the Academy. That's okay." Syusuke paused for while, humming to himself, arranging his thoughts. "That... even sort of makes you a good person."

Seiichi looked at him incredulously. "A good person? How does killing people make me a good person?" he demanded bitterly.

"You killed him because you were protecting us, didn't you? You killed him so we wouldn't have to worry about him attacking the Academy anymore. That's good."

Seiichi blinked up at him many times before he relaxed and started laughing. _Laughing_. "You and your logic," Seiichi said between fits of laughter. "I swear, Syusuke."

"My.. logic?"

Seiichi was shaking his head, trying to smother his laughter. "You make it sound so simple."

"Isn't it, though?" It was, to Syusuke.

Seiichi slumped once again, and this time, he was calm. "I suppose."

Syusuke shrugged before he was crushed into a tight hug. "Thank you, Syusuke."

./.

Seiichi got better over the next few days, and a week later, he was back to arguing with Keigo. Syusuke was happy that he was back, even though that meant he had to slave through Seiichi's usual morning banter with Keigo. It was... nice to not have the breakfast table half-empty, though Syusuke never forgot about the empty space.

Nii-san hasn't returned yet.

And standing outside of his brother's room for what was the twentieth time during the course of the week, it was getting harder to convince himself that he wasn't disappointed.

./.

Seiichi had taken up origami, too, so they sat together in Syusuke's room, folding papers, Seiichi calmly, and Syusuke furiously.

During the hour that they had been working, Syusuke had managed to botch a grand total of seven lotuses, five turtles and one fish. And the pile was still getting bigger.

Syusuke's hands were trembling as he took another square piece of origami paper, his eyes, blurring with tears he refused to let go of. He made a sound at the back of his throat, annoyed with himself for all the papers he'd ruined, wondering just why the hell he felt like crying.

Seiichi watched his face silently, before getting up and sitting back down beside him. Syusuke shook his head. He wasn't going to cry. He didn't have to, nii-san was going to come back. He was going to come back, like he promised he would, nii-san never broke his promises. It was no use crying. No use at all.

But Seiichi only reached out and gripped his hands, guiding them, folding the paper, tucking corners here, opening a few there, and before long, there was a single pristine white crane gripped between his trembling hands.

It was so beautiful, but Syusuke only wanted to cry.

"You know what they say about paper cranes, Syusuke?" Seiichi was saying solemnly, not commenting on Syusuke's held-back tears or his trembling hands or his nii-san's absence. "You give paper cranes to people who are important to you. They're a symbol of friendship, did you know?"

Syusuke shook his head no.

"You know what else they say about paper cranes?" Seiichi nudged the one in his hand. "Make a thousand and you'd get a wish."

"A... wish?"

"Mn, just one for a thousand, so it has to be something you truly want," Seiichi replied. "If we made a thousand, what would you wish for?"

Oh, that was easy. That was so, so very easy. "I'd wish that nii-san would be happy, that he'd be safe and happy. Nothing else."

Seiichi's arm wrapped around him, engulfing him with warmth, squeezing his shoulder. "In that case," he said and Syusuke could hear the smile in his voice. "One is enough."

Seiichi's other hand pushed another small square origami paper into Syusuke's view. And it should have been just another paper, just another pretty sheet. Except that it was the exact same color as his brother's eyes, sparkling with soft glitter.

Seiichi took his hands and guided him again helping him fold the crane that was meant for the most important person in his life.

And if he noticed that Syusuke was crying, if he noticed Syusuke's tears at all, he didn't say a word.

./.

There was blood everywhere.

And it was all Tezuka could see. Moments ago, he didn't know if it was minutes or hours or days, Persona had walked up to him and whispered how proud he was of Tezuka, and that Tezuka was free to go to the Academy and see his brother now.

But Tezuka had not moved. He stood rooted at the spot he had been many hours before. He remained standing the entire time, staring stupidly at the blood, realizing over and over again what he'd just done.

His mind was screaming 'killer!' and it had every right to.

Because that was what he was.

And he remembered everything, all in exquisite detail. The screaming, the cursing, the thrashing, and, the part that haunted him the most, the moment when it all just... _stopped_, leaving an eeriely quiet room, and the yells of Tezuka's conscience.

Tezuka closed his eyes and opened them again, seeing the exact same scene he had been staring at before. And he suddenly couldn't bear it anymore. He whirled around and ran, just ran, thinking of nothing, thinking of nothing but getting back to the Academy, and nothing else.

He wasn't allowed to think of the brother waiting for him in the Academy, the brother he loved, the brother he now had absolutely no right to. Not after what he'd just done.

He crashed into his room, and proceeded to empty his stomach into his bathroom sink. Over and over. And even as he rinsed his mouth clean, all he could see was red.

Blood. Blood in the bathroom, blood in the couch, blood in the closet. He turned abrubtly towards his bed and stopped.

Because the person he least wanted to see right now, was sitting there, looking at him worriedly, as if someone like him needed to be fussed over.

There was a crane in his hand, beautifully folded, and he set it down carefully on Tezuka's nightstand, before standing up and walking towards him.

Tezuka froze.

And Syusuke kept on moving, slowly but surely closing the distance between the two of them, reaching out and clutching his hands, smiling, relief in his voice when he said, "You're back."

Tezuka forgot everything. There was only Syusuke and Syusuke's smile, Syusuke's sparkling, loving eyes, Syusuke's soft hands clutching his own, telling him how glad Syusuke was to have him back.

He pulled Syusuke closer into a hug, allowing the comfort he usually denied to himself, just once, just this once. Syusuke exhaled happily as he moved to sift his brother's hair through his fingers, familiarizing himself with how silky they were, and how right Syusuke felt in his arms.

He watched the honey-brown strands tangled in his fingers... and was reminded of how the hair of the woman he'd killed was dyed a deep red after he'd... after he'd...

He wondered if Syusuke knew, if Syusuke felt the soul of that woman enter Death. And then that voice inside of him, was whispering softly, telling him he'd just defiled Syusuke, defiled Syusuke and his purity by touching him with hands that had seen blood. With hands that had caused death.

He pushed Syusuke away.

"Nii-san..?"

"Syusuke, I.."

"I know."

He glanced sharply up at Syusuke, who was looking at him with compassionate eyes, smiling sadly. "I know." Syusuke stepped up to him again and put his arms around Tezuka's waist, burying his head in Tezuka's chest. "And I don't care."

Tezuka remained as he was, standing shell-shocked and frozen, and Syusuke continued to hug him, never letting go. "You could kill hundreds and thousands of people, and I wouldn't care. It wouldn't matter to me.

"You'd still be nii-san and I'd still love you."

Syusuke looked up at him, watching him out of pleading, trembling blue eyes. "You'd let me, won't you?"

Tezuka's eyes softened, his heart filling with all the love he felt for Syusuke. Of course he would. He would never deny Syusuke anything, not if it made Syusuke happy, Syusuke had everything Tezuka could offer, right from the first moment Syusuke had looked up to him and smiled.

Because Tezuka loved Syusuke. And he loved him very much. "Of course," he replied and meant it.

"Then hug me, please."

Tezuka willingly complied. And because he had allowed himself many things today, he decided to allow himself one more. Just one more happiness, before everything would have to go back to normal tomorrow. Just this once, he convinced himself. It was safe, it was okay, just this once.

He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to the crown of his brother's head, then to his forehead, then to his cheek.

Syusuke let him, gave a soft sigh at each of the kisses, and they stayed that way for a very long time, lost in each other's arms.

* * *

><p>Clary: Yey~ Another wittle side story in honor of Lia's recovery~ You're a medical miracle, Lia.<p>

Lia: Are we going to have this discussion again? (glares)

Clary: Okay~ Okay~~~ Geez... Anyway, I wrote this one with Resa and Ani, who were also both worried sick for Lia~~

Lia: She's lying, I think. Resa and Ani could have never wrote this sidestory with her. It's impossible.

Clary: No, it's not~~ I did too write this with Resa and Ani~~~ At SCHOOL while you were busy being sick!

Lia: We ARE talking about the same persons, aren't we? Theresa and Anita? My two best friends other than you who hate each other's guts?

Clary: See, that's how worried they were about you, they actually stopped quarreling~~ It should go into the book of world records~~~ They didn't have bitch fights AT ALL this week, everyone was all like: Are those REALLY Resa and Ani? It was funny~~~~

Lia: Really... (still not believing)

Clary: YES, REALLY! But since you're not sick now, I guess they'd be all over each other again... (Oh well~ The peace was fun while it lasted~)

Lia: (still not believing) ... Anyway, for what it's worth, I liked this one.

Clary: Awwweeeeeee~~~~ I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, LIA~~~~ WELCOME BACK~~~~~~~ (smothers Lia in hugs) I'll be a good writer from now on, I promise~~~~~~~


	10. VIII The Immortal Geisha

Lia: I think it's only right to give you guys a fair warning so you are all prepared for the outcome: Issa is GROUNDED again, and is SNEAKING BEHIND HER MOM'S BACK again, so... I think that statement speaks for itself.

Clary: Liaaaaaaaaa~~~ You didn't have to SAY it, Nate's NOT HERE, so he can't go all tattletale-ing to Mom. Besides, this whole grounded business is NOT MY FAULT.

Lia: Oh, so are you saying that Nate's taking your Mythology class for you? (Issa is failing Mythology, so she's grounded. She's probably the only person in the world who can fail an elective class.)

Clary: No, but it's still NOT MY FAULT. (grumble) It's not like I wanted in this class in the first place.

Lia: If I remember correctly, you were the one who practically FORCED me to take Mythology with you. I wanted that CHINESE class for my elective but you were all like: But Liaaaaaaaa~~~~ I want Mythology~~~~~~~

Clary: I'm sorry for assuming that Mythology means GREEK MYTHOLOGY, because I'm familiar with GREEK MYTHOLOGY, like a normal person. I never, never, in a million years thought that we'd be studying HINDU GODS.

Lia: If it was solely about Greek Mythology, then it would have been named GREEK MYTHOLOGY. But its name is MYTHOLOGY, and therefore includes all others apart from Greek. Studying HINDU GODS in MYTHOLOGY is perfectly legitimate. And because you refused to read the Mahabharata and Ramayana with me, you're failing. THUS, you're grounded status.

Clary: I'M SORRY if I don't want to read books about people whose names I can barely pronounce. I mean, what person in their right side of mind names their child BHARATA? Seriously, folks.

Lia: I am currently trying to teach her about Hindu gods and myths. And so far, we haven't gotten anywhere.

Clary: Lia is a lousy teacher.

Lia: Don't dump all this on ME, Issa. We'd have gotten SOMEWHERE if you stop DAYDREAMING, but you don't, so we're not getting ANYWHERE at all. (We made good progress in the beginning, when I was telling Issa about Brahma and Vishnu and Shiva, but when I started explaining about the Samudra Manthan and the 14 Ratnas... well, this happened)

Clary: CHANDRA COULD TOTALLY BE FUJI~~~~~~~~~~~~!

Lia: So now we couldn't go anywhere because Issa is connecting POT characters to Hindu gods.

Clary: But FUJI MAKES THE PERFECT CHANDRA~~~~ I always pictured Fuji to be a moon kind of person~~~ Yey~ And TEZUKA COULD TOTALLY BE VISHNU... Wait... Isn't Chandra given to Shiva or something?... Yeah, so Tezuka will be Shiva, then... No, wait... Tezuka isn't a Shiva kind of person... Hmph... (thinkthinkthink)

Lia: (sigh) This has been going on for about an hour now... You guys can imagine my exasperation. (Issa, just let Tezuka be Shiva and get on with it, okay? Fuji as Chandra gets given to Tezuka as Shiva and they live happily ever after. The end. Can we STUDY now?)

Clary: NO WE CAN'T! Tezuka is not a Shiva kind of person! He's a Vishnu kind of person! But Chandra has to be given to Shiva and Fuji is the perfect Chandra and... Aaaaaaaaahhhhh~~~~~ I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!

Lia: Let Fuji be Lakshmi, then.

Clary: Who's Lakshmi?

Lia: Vishnu's wife. And Lakshmi's a Ratna, too, so it's not that big of a change. There. Happily ever after.

Clary: But what about Chandra~~~~~~~~~?

Lia: Issa... I'm gonna kill you in a moment. (turns to readers) Here's the next installation. Please enjoy while I yell at Issa here. Don't worry, by the time you finish reading, I'll be just about finished and Issa will GET HER HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS AND STUDY ALREADY (you hear that, Issa?). There's another flashback scene here, which I allowed only because Issa wouldn't stop whining. The flashback happened a little before the first sidestory.

Please enjoy. (Please be warned, though, I personally think Tezuka's a little OOC here. Oh, and there's a little mature content in some scenes, too. I mellowed them out a bit, so I guess it's fairly safe.)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's Mythology tutor), Alatarielf (we love the characters too~~~~ that's why we chose them~~~ we're glad you like them~~~), Shuzuka (we love's Atobe's idea, too, we were actually tempted to try it~~ smileys), neumegami (maa~~ we'll see who wins in the Academy vs. Immortals fight, won't we? Winkwink~), phoenixfirekitsune (haha~ we love Chitose's attitude, too~ he'll have a scene to himself in a future chapter so we hope you'll enjoy it~), lemon-and-chai (we're glad we make you happy~), sotfreakazoid (we'll see~~ smileys), Seishirou Hitsugaya (thanks for wishing us luck~ we'll be sure to need it~~), BleuFleur (they'll be meeting soon, don't worry~ our lips are sealed on who gets to win, though~ it's a himitsu for now~)

* * *

><p><strong>VIII<strong>**. THE IMMORTAL GEISHA**

* * *

><p><em>Central Town was abuzz today. It had something to do with the new sweetshop that had just opened, though frankly, Tezuka could care less.<em>

_He was eight and too old for those kinds of things, anyway._

_Syusuke, however, was seven, and therefore, was still too young to be too old (he says) and though he had failed to convince Tezuka to go to the overly-crowded, newly-opened horrible excuse for a shop, he was able to talk Tezuka into the ice cream parlor he had favored ever since the day they first came here. _

_Tezuka, it seemed, still hadn't grown out of not being able to say no to his brother's wheedling._

_It was the reason why he was sitting at a corner table of the shop, watching Syusuke devour a huge glass of vanilla ice cream. He'd wanted a wasabi-flavored one, but Tezuka had been smart enough to bribe the vendor to not give in to his brother's atrocious tastes, so the vendor had said that they were sold out of the wasabi flavor (even though it had been thus far untouched) and had given Syusuke his second-choice vanilla. Syusuke had been mildly disappointed, though when they got to their table, he had forgotten all about it and dug in as enthusiastically as he would've have, were he eating wasabi-flavored ice cream._

_Tezuka felt like he was being ignored in favor of ice cream, but that was okay. He liked watching his brother eat, with his twinkling, happy eyes. It was all he could wish for, anyway._

"_Ku-nii," Syusuke called, and Tezuka resisted the urge to flinch. "Do you want some?"_

"_No, thank you."_

_The times when Syusuke referred to him as 'onii-sama' seemed like such a very long time ago. Ever since they were brought to the Academy, or rather, more appropriately, ever since they met Yukimura Seiichi, who claimed to be their cousin, Syusuke's 'onii-sama' had suddenly become, for a reason unknown to Tezuka, 'Ku-nii'. It was a name Tezuka hated and Atobe Keigo teased him constantly for it, but he couldn't get Syusuke to stop because he said that it was less of a mouthful than 'onii-sama', making Tezuka wish that they were back at home with Grandfather, Father, Mother and their traditional behavior._

_Staying at the Academy (and being in Yukimura and Atobe's company) was putting all sorts of atrocities into Syusuke's head._

"_Ku-nii," Syusuke's bright blue eyes were assessing. "You look... thoughtful."_

"_Syusuke, why do you call me that?" Tezuka asked. _

"_What? Ku-nii?" Syusuke asked before he grinned. "Because that way you can be Kunimitsu and onii-sama__ at the same time. Ku-nii. Kuni. See?"_

_No, Tezuka did not see. He frowned. _

_Syusuke's face fell. "You don't... like it?"_

_Tezuka wanted to say he did, if only to put the smile back on his brother's face, but he didn't like it, he _did not_ at all, and it would be supremely unfair to Syusuke if he lied. "... Not really."_

"_Oh." Syusuke was looking down at his hands now, and he'd stopped eating his ice cream. "What should I call you then?"_

_Obviously, Syusuke won't go back to calling him 'onii-sama' because Yukimura had him wholly convinced that 'it was a mouthful' and Tezuka didn't want 'Ku-nii', either, nor did he want to say 'whatever you like' because Tezuka was fairly sure Yukimura would come up with an even more embarrassing name to pay him back for the damage he had done on Syusuke's enthusiasm for 'Ku-nii'. So..._

"_Try nii-san."_

"_Nii-san," Syusuke parroted, face lighting up again. "Nii-san is okay with nii-san?"_

"_Yes," Tezuka answered, grateful that _Syusuke_ was okay with nii-san, it was fairly normal, and it wasn't much of a mouthful, so both parties were satisfied (well, not Yukimura or Atobe, but they didn't count)._

_Syusuke brought his face closer, peering at him closely. "Nii-san likes the name nii-san?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Okay," Syusuke smiled happily, moving to finish his ice cream. "Seiichi wouldn't be happy, but I think I can explain it nicely. Nii-san will be nii-san from now on, okay?"_

_Tezuka didn't answer, watching Syusuke eat again, wondering just how Syusuke managed to be on first name terms with Yukimura Seiichi _already_, they weren't even on the same year, Syusuke was a year younger than both he and Tezuka. He didn't get very far, though, becoming distracted on the way Syusuke was licking the spoon thoroughly. He shook his head and looked away, feeling heat strangely making its way to his face._

"_Stop licking your spoon like that," he ordered sternly, still looking away. "You know Mother doesn't like it."_

_The spoon clattered down to the table noisily._

"_Syusuke?" He turned to look at his brother, who was now shaking slightly. His hair covered his eyes, but he picked up the spoon slowly and gave a shaky, "Sorry."_

"_Syusuke, what's wrong?" Tezuka asked, getting out of his chair and moving towards his brother's own._

"_Nii-san, Mother hasn't been writing back," his brother informed him solemnly. "There was mail this morning, but Mother hasn't been writing _back_."_

"_She might not have received our letter, Syusuke," Tezuka reminded him, slowly stroking his brother's back. "You know that happens sometimes."_

"_I know." Syusuke's voice was a whisper now. "I _know_. But... I have a bad feeling, and," he looked up to Tezuka, eyes wet with suppressed tears. "I'm scared."_

_Syusuke's small hand clutched his own tightly, and Tezuka squeezed back. "It's okay," he assured, willing Syusuke to be comforted. "I'm sure they're all okay." Tezuka pulled Syusuke to him and let him cry softly on his chest. "We'll be okay here, too. I'll make sure of it."_

_He bent down to kiss his brother's forehead. "You'll be okay, you don't have to be scared. I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you."_

_Syusuke merely tightened his hold, his sobs were subsiding, and that was good. Tezuka rubbed slow circles on Syusuke's back. "It's okay. Mother's letter will be in the mail tomorrow, you'll see."_

_But no letter ever did come. Not the next day, or the next or the next. Syusuke cried more and more often and Tezuka, himself had started to question just why their parents weren't answering any more of their letters._

_A month later, Tezuka found out why. _

_Some teachers of the Academy Tezuka didn't know had pulled them aside and told them that everyone, Grandfather, Father, Mother, _everyone,_ was dead._

_./._

Tezuka woke up hard.

He gave out a small gasp, before he opened his eyes, looked down...

And found his brother's body lying flush underneath his. _Syusuke_, his brother _Syusuke_ was lying underneath him, his legs spread, his top half-on, half-off, his lips sweetly parted, his cheeks adorned with a nice, rosy tinge.

Tezuka jumped up and flung himself to the bathroom faster than he had ever thought possible.

What... how... How did he _get there_? The last thing Tezuka remembered was listening to his brother's voice in _voice mail_ from his _cellphone_, and then, Tezuka wakes up, and finds himself rock hard (no surprise there), Syusuke underneath him (big surprise), looking ravaged (he must be seeing wrong, this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a- it's _real_).

Is it possible to molest your brother in your sleep?

He spent far too long a time than necessary in the shower, feeling the freezing cold water, overthinking everything, trying to find a legitimate reason as to why he woke up today on top of his brother, who had looked, for all the world, as if Tezuka had just had sex with him. Tezuka couldn't have, they were _clothed_, he was sure of it, he _looked_, and Syusuke was _clothed_, he wasn't naked and neither was Tezuka.

They didn't have sex, they _didn't_, Tezuka was sure, and yet, he couldn't get his brain fully convinced that he didn't molest Syusuke during the night without even being _aware_ of it.

They just... slept together, that's all, and there wasn't anything terribly wrong with... sleeping together, there _wasn't_, they had slept together many, many times in the past, and Tezuka had never inappropriately touched his brother in any of those times, he had _wanted_ to, but he _didn't_, and that was what counted.

He'd woken up hard countless times before, as well, and that didn't mean he'd touched Syusuke inappropriately, either.

... It still didn't explain why he was sleeping on top of Syusuke, or why Syusuke's legs were parted, or why Syusuke was on his way to becoming half-naked, or (the worst part) why Syusuke's lips looked swollen from _kissing_.

They kissed?

A faint image appeared in Tezuka's head, an image of him kissing Syusuke, underneath him on the bed, Syusuke kissing _back_, calling "Kunimitsu," not nii-san but _Kunimitsu_, with just as much love and want as he.

They kissed. They _kissed_. He kissed Syusuke and Syusuke kissed _back._

What... did that mean?

He turned his face to the direction of the shower head and let the cold spray hit his face. He exhaled slowly.

It didn't mean anything.

Nothing at all. Not to him, not to Syusuke, and most definitely not to their relationship. He was still just Syusuke's older brother, albeit a big failure as one, and Syusuke was still his younger brother. Whatever happened last night... wouldn't change anything, they were brothers, and that was all that could ever happen with them, Tezuka was not going to _force_ it, they were just _brothers_, and that would be all.

Tezuka was _not_ going to confuse his own twisted, warped, abnormal feelings as Syusuke's own.

He'd already failed as a brother once, he was not going to fail again, especially since _this time_, he could control it, he had contol and he was _not_ going to lose it.

Which reminded him.

Persona.

He clenched his fists. He didn't know how to say it, what to do, he'd promised Syusuke he'd protect him, and he failed, was failing, and now he had to walk Syusuke up to his death.

He thought about it while he was dressing, but nothing.

Maybe he should just start by begging for Syusuke's forgiveness. That seemed appropriate enough.

When he opened the door from the shower, Syusuke was sitting on the bed facing the bathroom, clothes fixed, wearing a sheepish smile. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Tezuka's brows furrowed. "Are you?"

The corner of Syusuke's mouth dropped but quickly quirked up to his usual smile once again that Tezuka couldn't be sure. Syusuke shifted his glance past Tezuka to the bathroom. "You carried me from the bathroom? I remember... sleeping there."

Tezuka wanted to yell. What the _hell_ was Syusuke doing sleeping in the _bathroom_? That was bad for his body, it was colder in the bathroom, and Syusuke never did well with cold, did he _want_ to get sick or catch a cold or something? But instead, he said a much shorter, "I suppose."

He hated lying, especially to Syusuke, but if Syusuke didn't remember what happened, then, Tezuka wouldn't be in any hurry to remind him. In fact, it would be a whole lot better, and a whole lot simpler if Syusuke didn't remember _ever_.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Syusuke cut off and appraised him with a sharp blue stare. "Nii-san is distracted. Is everything okay?"

Tezuka suddenly couldn't meet his brother's gaze. How can Syusuke _trust_ him so much, when he was wrong in very, very many ways? "I... don't know," he answered truthfully.

Syusuke tilted his head to the side questioningly, his face confused. "You don't... know?"

"No.. I just..." Tezuka sighed. "I'm sorry."

"_You're_ sorry?" Syusuke was getting up now, approaching him, still with a very confused air. "Nii-san, you didn't do anything _wrong_. What are you sorry for? What's the matter?"

Tezuka reached out and caressed his brother's face, wondering if he still had the right to do this. He smiled bitterly. "I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry, Syusuke, but... Persona... wants to see you."

He looked at Syusuke again. And watched with disbelief as Syusuke's eyes softened. His brother brought up a hand and placed it over Tezuka's own, closing his eyes and leaning in to Tezuka's touch. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Syusuke opened his eyes and smiled gently. "Nii-san is being an idiot," he said before he moved closer to Tezuka and rested his head on his chest. Tezuka sucked in a huge breath of air, trying to calm his heart. "Nii-san, all I ever wanted was to _help you_. You go to a lot of missions, you get so stressed and tired and sometimes, you come back injured and hurt or... well, I see you retching in the mornings. You don't get enough sleep and you hardly take care of yourself. I'm allowed to worry, too, you know."

"Syusuke-" Tezuka started, but stopped when he felt his brother shaking his head.

"Nii-san, I'm not stupid." Syusuke looked up, blue eyes so wide, so loving. "I know you were doing all of it for me. I know you wanted to protect me and I loved you for it, so I tried to not be so much more of a burden than I already am. Did you know... Did you know how bad I felt everytime I see you tired or sleepy or on edge? I knew all that was because of me and I tried... I tried not to show just how much it _hurts_ if only so you wouldn't have one more thing to worry about."

Tezuka was shaking. It wasn't supposed to be.. _this way_. Syusuke was supposed to be happy in that world Tezuka had made for him. All Tezuka wanted was... He brought his arms around his brother, returning the hug, the affection, the love. "Syusuke, I'm so sorry-"

"And now," Syusuke cut off loudly, his voice husky with the tears he was trying so much to stop. "And now, you're saying sorry, asking for _my forgiveness_, as if I had any right... As if I had any right to be mad or angry or unsatisfied. Nii-san don't you get it? You sacrifice so much for _me_, and I can't... I don't have _anything_ that I can offer you in return. Don't you see how _useless_, how much of a weakling I am?"

"You're not," Tezuka took Syusuke's chin in his hand and tilted it up so that he was looking directly at Syusuke's eyes. He thought of Syusuke's smiles, Syusuke's encouragements, Syusuke's tears, Syusuke's gentle actions and kind words that had given him so much strength, that had kept him going depite the tiredness, the stress, the guilt. He thought of Syusuke's purity that he was drawn to, that he needed, because of the monster that he was, that he had become. Syusuke was wrong, it was _Syusuke_ who had given so much to Tezuka, his love, his trust, his care and his kindness, even though the monster that was Tezuka deserved none of it. And Tezuka could only hope that someday, _he'll_ be able to repay Syusuke for everything he was given but wasn't worthy for.

_How can he think so lowly of himself, when it was Tezuka who was weak, and Tezuka who needed so much from him?_

"I've never, _never_ considered you that, and I never _will_. Syusuke, don't-"

Syusuke pulled away before he could finish, shaking his head against Tezuka's chest again, and Tezuka tightened his hold. "Go ahead," he told his brother. "Cry." _Let me look after you, and care for you the way you deserve to be looked after and cared for._

"No," the voice was hard and determined this time. "I shouldn't. I... I can't be a burden to you, nii-san." Syusuke looked up once more, and his eyes were dry. "Nii-san, sometimes... sometimes I wished I was just a little bit stronger. I know it's selfish but I wanted Persona to notice me, so that I could be with you. So you'd have someone looking after _you_."

Syusuke offered him a strained, shaky smile and Tezuka tried to smile back. Syusuke's smile widened at his effort. His brother looked down, took his hand and threaded their fingers together. "I want to stand by your side, nii-san, if you'll let me."

Tezuka looked down at their joined hands, marveling at how good it felt to have Syusuke holding him like this, and how good it felt to let him. It took less of an effort to smile this time, and he squeezed his brother's hand, conveying his 'yes' in the simple gesture.

Syusuke beamed. And he couldn't have looked more beautiful to Tezuka.

"I love you, you know," he said softly, quietly, trying to convince himself that it was okay, it wasn't a stupid idea, older brothers love their younger brothers and they say it all the time, trying to convince himself that he wasn't saying it because it was as close to a confession as he could get.

"Hmm?" Syusuke's eyes were closed again, and he was wearing a pleasant smile. He lifted his face up to Tezuka, and Tezuka was suddenly aware again of their closeness. "I know."

Syusuke squeezed his hand, and opened his eyes, all blue and bright and glittering. "I love you, too."

This time, Tezuka had to work extra hard to convince himself that Syusuke meant it in the innocent sense, they were brothers, after all, there was nothing else it could be, and that it didn't hurt, it _didn't_ hurt at all.

It _didn't_.

And yet, after all that, Tezuka's heart, the stupid thing, still wouldn't stop from pounding itself madly on his ribs, and his blood wouldn't stop tingling, and his mind wouldn't stop repeating his brother's words over and over and over.

_Syusuke, you don't know how much I wish you did._

But he didn't. And he never will.

He suddenly felt the strong, strange urge to cry.

./.

No one was noticing her.

It was a little disorienting, considering how she wasn't terribly inconspicuous, she was dressed eccentrically, she looked like she stepped out of a painting from the Heian period of Ancient Japan.

For heaven's sake, she was dressed in a pink _kimono_, and her hair was put up in a ridiculous imitation of a ribbon and she wore, if he remembered his history correctly, okobo that rose a few inches from the ground and tapered down into a wedge. Her katana in its sheath was clutched closely to her chest by both her arms and she was just _standing_ there, and no one was noticing.

The shadows were rippling uncontrollably, and Yukimura narrowed his eyes at the immortal woman. He had full view of her, standing there in broad daylight, completely unnoticed and unperturbed.

"Chitose," he breathed softly, turning towards the kid, who was currently devouring an atrocious-looking pile of ice cream.

"What?"

Yukimura merely tilted his head to the side, indicating the woman standing in the sidewalk, standing, just standing, her head tilted to the side in an obvious show of patience.

"That's the woman?" Chitose asked, pushing away his glass, and watching her with an interested gleam on his eyes. "Hmmm..." he hummed, assessing her from head to toe, and back again. "Pretty."

The immortal, all the way across the street looked up and smiled, revealing perfect white teeth, making every indication that she had heard Chitose's comment. She pursed her lips, brought up a hand and blew them a kiss.

Chitose was grinning, blowing her a kiss back, which she pretended to catch with her hand, and Yukimura couldn't help but wonder if he was the only sane person left in this whole damn world.

They were _flirting_. They were on either side of the street and they were _flirting_, Yukimura didn't know how they managed, they couldn't even hear each other, and Chitose was a practically a _kid_, considering god knows how long this woman had been living, but they were _flirting_.

"Chitose." His voice was warning enough, he hoped, he couldn't afford for Chitose to be distracted, flirting with a woman who was ten, maybe twenty times older than him, they needed to carry out orders so that Yukimura can go back to the Academy and be rid himself with this younger version of Atobe Keigo for all of his life.

"I know," Chitose answered, but he still winked at the immortal, who raised a hand to cover her mouth and started giggling, _giggling_, what the hell was she thinking, giggling like that in broad daylight, in the middle of the sidewalk, in her ancient pink kimono and ribbon hairstyle?

She stopped as abrubtly as she began, raised her arm out to them and crooked her index finger towards her.

_Come and get me_.

She turned and made her way to the small park conveniently located beside the high-rise. She was rather confident, turning her back to the enemy like that, but Yukimura guessed that was what happens when you don't have to worry about dying.

"Chitose-kun, if you'd explain to me just what the hell that was, I might consider not killing you right now, so if would, explain," he said, and very amiably, too turning sharply to Chitose with a very, very agreeable smile that Chitose, who was busy with his ice cream once again, should recognize.

"That, Yukimura," Chitose said through a mouthful of the cold confection. "Was a girl. You've seen girls before, haven't you? Your little friend Kisaragi Meiko is one."

Outside, already at the entrance of the small park, the immortal threw back her head and laughed.

Yukimura merely widened his smile.

"Okay, okay!" Chitose dunked his spoon back to the glass. "Fine. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have flirted with a pretty girl all the way across the street."

Yukimura offered him another smile, this time with a mocking edge. "You talk too much," he commented, making his way towards the door.

"You're paying," he called back, before he let himself out into the morning sunshine.

It was hot at this time of day, and Yukimura wasn't quite sure how that immortal managed just standing in the sidewalk and waiting for them to take notice of her. But it wasn't his problem, and he needed to start focusing now, especially since his enemy was a goddamn immortal.

She was standing calmly at the center of the park, still with her little self-assured smile. He entered cautiously, and leaned against a lampost that stood near the entrance.

"Hello," he greeted, smiling, though it wasn't, in any way, shape or form, a very friendly smile.

"Yukimura Seiichi-sama." She said it in a way that was coy and flirty, and she said it with ease, as if she had been doing it all her (very) long life. She bowed to him, hands put together in front, delicately bending her torso.

A perfect geisha bow.

"And your name would be what, I wonder?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. This woman was old enough to have been part of the mysterious geisha community of Japan, even though she looked, on the outside, frozen on her late teens, probably eighteen or nineteen. How old was she really?

"Yurehime, Yukimura-sama," she said, disentangling an arm and holding out the bottom part of her kimono. "At your service."

"Not your real name, am I right?"

She laughed, and it, too was coy and flirty. She fixed him with a seductive stare, and gave a little smirk. "Geisha have but one name." Her stare became calculating then, though her smirk never left her face. "And Yurehime is mine. Does it displease you, Yukimura-sama?"

"No, not really," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched her with a calculative stare, too, wondering just how far she was willing to take this geisha charade of hers. "Aren't geisha meant to entertain?"

Her mouth widened into a knowing smile. "Oh, yes," she said, still holding her katana with both arms. "I am quite the entertainer, Yukimura-sama. Though I wonder if such a kid like you can afford my ohana." A hand moved towards her chest. "I am expensive, you know."

"Don't worry about me. There is little I cannot afford," Yukimura said, eyes darting around the park. Her kimono was looser than kimono should be, and he doubted she would have a problem moving around them, if this was her choice of clothing. She knew about them being here, after all, she was the one who practically approached them, and as far as Yukimura saw, she wore her kimono like second skin, masterfully, just like any geisha would.

Besides, she had years and years of practice.

He widened his smile. She was going to put up a fight and it was _perfect_, he was angry and it would just be too bad if she lost easily. He didn't endure the past twenty-four hours with an eccentric, annoying double of Atobe Keigo for nothing, he wasn't a very patient person, and there was only so much Atobe Keigo he could take before he snapped.

And he wanted to snap _now_. "Entertain me, Yurehime-san."

She hummed for a while, caressing the hilt of her katana lightly. "My, my, Yukimura-sama, you are quite the enthusiast. But first, allow this one a little question?" She tilted her head to the side. "Where is your companion, Chitose Senri-sama?"

"Eating," he answered briefly. "Don't you like it this way, Yurehime-san?" He spread his arms wide. "This way, we won't be interrupted. Entertain me, and don't think of anyone else while you are in my presence."

She gave a short chuckle. "Very well, then. I could always look for him later. I've dealt with the possessive, jealous types before. And quite nicely, too."

Their words were all laced with hidden meanings now, and though she seemed quite confident in her abilities, Yukimura was, too, and he refused to let her conceited smile daunt him.

"I entertain in many ways, Yukimura-sama. I prepare wonderful tea, but sadly, we haven't the time for tea ceremony. I make good conversation, but I hardly think it is appropriate right now. I am a master at shamisen, but one isn't on hand." She gazed directly at him, and her smile had a dangerous edge to it now. "I dance."

Without warning, she pulled her katana out of it sheath and slashed at him all in one swift fluid move. He dodged easily, but had to watch as the lampost split into two and crashed to the ground.

No one outside the deserted park noticed, he noted calmly, even though the lampost had been quite visible from the sidewalk.

He turned his gaze back to her as she laughed with wicked glee, coming out of her geisha act. Her katana was longer than it looked, but he should have expected it, somehow. It was probably about five or six feet; she wielded it with the ease of a master and the grace of a geisha, and Yukimura had just seen firsthand how sharp the blade was.

She fixed him with a smile that was nothing near coy or seductive and that would have sent a lesser man running for his life. As it was, Yukimura merely smiled back, with equal venom.

"Dance with me, Yukimura-sama."

* * *

><p>Lia: Issa is decent now (and not thinking about Chandra-Fuji and Vishnu-Tezuka, so we can talk). First of all, I told Issa she was over-dramatizing that scene with Tezuka and Syusuke, but like always she did not listen.<p>

Clary: IT WAS NOT OVER-DRAMATIZED! It was emotional and beautiful and can't you see just how much they love each other? (Lia, you have such a stone cold heart)

Lia: You're making them out to be some strange, twisted piece of work. 'Syusuke thinks he's so weak because he can't help Tezuka, and Tezuka thinks that HE'S weak because he needed so much from Syusuke'. My god, Issa, that scene looks like it came out from some sappy romance novel or something.

Clary: IT. DOES. NOT. Lia, I hate you. You have NO HEART. I CRIED when I was writing that scene, it was so emotional and sweet, and you could see just how much they loved each other, I totally CRIED. How can you think they're a piece of work? TELL HER, EVERYONE. Didn't you think it was such a sweet, lovely, beautiful scene?

Lia: IT'S SAPPY, that's all I can say. Lay off on the dramatizing tendencies and that scene might have turned out sweet and lovely and beautiful.

Clary: I'm not listening to a cold-hearted bitch like you. WHATEVER, Lia. Fuck you.

Lia: I'd really rather not. You should watch your language or you might end up grounded. Which you already are, actually. And you're about to be grounded even more for sneaking behind your mom's back, so watch the language, Issa.

Clary: Fuck you, I'll say whatever I fucking want to, and HAH, you can't delete this!

Lia: Why don't we ask everyone else what they think? I'm pretty sure they're all going to agree with me.

Clary: YOU'RE ON, BITCH. Fantasize all you like, it's an emotional, romantic scene and everyone knows it and they're going to SAY SO, and you're gonna LOSE!

Lia: We'll see.

Review, everyone and tell us who you agree with~

Clary: Even though it's so obvious they agree with ME.

Lia: You'll be eating your words soon, Issa. Mark my words.

Review~~


	11. IX Undoing Death

Clary: I'm soo sorry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm so sorry you guys, yes, I know I haven't updated for over a month~~~~~~~~~~ -cries- See, Lia went away for some girl scout camp thing and I'm useless without Lia~~~

Lia: This does not flatter me at all. I'm still angry at you.

Clary: But Lia~~~~~~

Lia: I told her to write at least two chapters while I'm gone and I come back to find out that she has written a grand total of ONE phrase: CHAPTER NINE. What kind of self-respecting, decent author makes her readers wait for over a month and only manages to write CHAPTER NINE?

Clary: THIS is why you exist, Lia. You're the editor here, so you're not supposed to go and leave. (And yes, I'm talking about college, not your stupid girl scout jamboree whatever)

Lia: We are not having this discussion. You are trying to revert the topic.

Clary: YES WE ARE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION! Do you guys know what she plans to do? No, you guys don't know what she is planning to do. She plans to go to college in FRANCE and LEAVE ME. Lia, I don't give a damn about your whole I-want-to-study-in-my-home-country-again complex, you haven't studied in France for more than ten years so don't fucking start now.

Lia: You're being selfish.

Clary: No, YOU'RE being selfish. What kind of good friend (and editor) leaves their friends (and writers) all alone?

Lia: Good ones.

Clary: ...Go jump off a cliff, Lia.

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: not Lia, that's for sure (go and hang yourself, Lia, I hate you), Alatarielf (maa, I'm really, really sorry –cries- I missed writing for you guys, don't worry, I'll try to not let this happen again :)), neumegami (your AU was AWESOME! Can I just say that I love you and your drawings, they are AWESOME, I don't even know where to start with the awesome-ness :)), phoenixfirekitsune (-winkwink- Yes, we all love flirts~ I hope you don't get disappointed with this chapter... Lia took one look at it and yelled at me), lemon-and-chai (ohmygosh I love Ku-nii too! We'll see if Syusuke stays happy for long, ne? –wink-), Shuzuka (ooohhh... Don't worry, I love inappropriate things~)

* * *

><p><strong>IX<strong>**. UNDOING DEATH**

* * *

><p>Persona was... nice.<p>

Syusuke didn't understand it, but the closer they had gotten to Persona's temporary office, the more fidgety and nervous his brother seemed to become, and Syusuke became a little nervous himself, too. His brother rarely talked about Persona, he avoided the subject as long as it was possible, but body language said a lot of things.

All other Dangerous types that he knew who were in Persona's little circle talked about him rarely, but when they did, it was easy to see they were uncomfortable doing it.

It was almost as if they were... _scared_.

Even Atobe, who never looked afraid of everything, because 'ore-sama is superior to all, be awed by the sight of ore-sama's prowess' hesitated at the topic of Persona.

And nii-san, too.

They never had anything bad to say about him, though, and Syusuke knew enough to know that he treated those students he acknowledged nicely, so he didn't understand why nii-san worried.

It wasn't like Death was going to kill him or anything (... was that a pun?).

They'd reached the office, and nii-san had robotically ushered him inside, took one look at Persona and moved back to the hallway, closing the door as he passed.

And Persona was... nice.

He made tea (Darjeeling, his favorite), and smiled (not exactly friendly, but not hostile, either), exchanged pleasantries like a normal person (he was quite the conversationalist, Syusuke found out) and had a pet bird (small and black, whose breed he did not know).

Persona said it was not a pet, exactly, and told him to think of it as just a bird in a cage in the office that Persona was currently occupying.

"I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, Syusuke-kun," he said, eyes glinting with something Syusuke couldn't quite place. "Your alice is something of a rarity, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," Syusuke answered politely, staring at his teacup. "I... don't know much about alices to be sure."

Persona's smile widened a bit at this, though Syusuke didn't understand why. "Of course. You're quite sheltered, which is good."

Syusuke didn't answer, he didn't know if he should. It seemed more like Persona had been mumbling to himself than talking to Syusuke so he just kept his mouth shut and stared at the bird.

"I'll be frank," he heard Persona say, and he looked back at Persona once again. "I want you. Very much. I never expected to encounter someone of your type of alice after the massacre, but I'm glad I did."

Syusuke didn't answer again, this time because he didn't know just what to say.

Persona chuckled. "Did you know, you and your brother," he started, moving from where he was seated on the other side of the desk to where Syusuke was seated, bending so they were face to face. "Are both something of a legacy?"

"Legacy?" Syusuke turned his face up to meet Persona's gaze before he flinched and turned away again.

"The Tezukas have been in the Academy for decades. I knew your father. Your mother, too." Persona paused, and Syusuke bit his lip, staring down at the teacup clutched tightly between his hands again. He hated being reminded of what he'd lost. "Pretty thing, Ayana. And always full of surprises. I didn't expect her to be able to bear a child with such a close affinity to Death."

Syusuke followed the movement of Persona's hand as it carelessly indicated the bird in the cage. The bird gave one long screech, before it fell slowly towards the bottom of its cage, dead.

Syusuke felt its life snuff out, felt its spirit enter Death's waters. It was fighting, like the rabbit was, because its entrance to Death, too, was premature.

It wasn't supposed to die yet.

He looked at Persona's smirking face again, with a horror-filled realization.

_He killed it_.

"As I was saying," Persona continued, unconcerned, but Syusuke heard him vaguely, his voice was becoming distorted. He could feel himself slipping little by little to Death, drawn to the bird in the waters before the First Gate. "I never thought Ayana could bear a child like you. Her best friend, maybe, but that was before the massacre of the-"

The words cut off abrubtly and he was in Death again, reaching for the bird's soul and quickly turning back to life.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in Persona's office, the birds was chirping softly once again, albeit a little weakly, and Persona was looking at him with a smug, satisfied smile.

"You did that," Persona stated calmly, nodding to the direction of the bird. "You can undo Death."

Syusuke bent his head, trying to avoid the piercing gaze. There was frost covering the rim of his teacup, it must have been a repercussion of his entering Death. "I... I can. As long... As long as the soul has not passed through the First Gate yet and as long as the body is intact, I could do it without any lasting consequences on the person."

"And if the soul has passed through this First Gate?" Persona smiled at him, and raised his eyebrow questioningly, clearly expecting an answer.

He hated that question. He'd never tried it, he _never_ did, he'd never _wanted_ to (barring that one time of his family's death, but he wasn't thinking straight and he was just a child then, he had refused to _know_ about the consequences), bringing back a soul that had passed through the First Gate meant... "I... I could still bring it back, as long as it hasn't passed on to true death, but not without a dilution of the spirit."

Syusuke looked away, wanting to be anywhere but here, talking about anything but this. "I could bring the spirit back, but it wouldn't... be the same. It would be... It would be bound to my will, and its body will continue to... rot."

"But it would still be alive." The tone was flat.

Why were they even _talking_ about this? Syusuke didn't want to think about it, he _didn't_ want to think about it, it was one of those horrible, ghastly things he knew that he wished he didn't. "Until I... allow it back to death, no matter what... no matter what happens to the body, the spirit would still be there. It would not die."

"Even if the body has... let's say, lost an arm or a leg or even the head?"

He didn't want to talk about this, he didn't want to talk about this, he _didn't_ want to talk about this, he _didn't_. He found himself gasping, there suddenly wasn't enough air in his lungs, he wanted to stop _talking_ about this.

"Answer me, Syusuke-kun."

_No_, he _didn't_ want to answer him. They both _knew_ the answer to the question anyway and Syusuke would rather _not_ think about it, why was he even _asking_?

But he found himself gasping out a small, feeble, "Yes." He felt the tears gathering in his lashes, but he'd already started, what was the point? "Yes, a lost arm or leg or head or anything else wouldn't bother it. When it passed through the First Gate... the spirit's connection with the body had already been... terminated. If I bring it back, the body... would just be a mere... vessel. Whatever happens to it physically wouldn't matter much."

"It wouldn't matter at all, if I understand you correctly," Persona said, his hand cupping Syusuke's cheek.

Syusuke gasped at its coldness. He barely felt cold at all, considering how cold his skin was, but Persona... was _icy_.

Persona brought his face up so that Syusuke had to look at his eyes. Persona was smiling, _smiling_, and Syusuke suddenly understood just why all the people who knew him were afraid of him.

"Excellent. You're _perfect_,"he said, his fingers digging in to the skin of Syusuke's cheek. "Your brother is already mine, Syusuke-kun. And I want you."

He brought his face closer, and Syusuke had to work very hard not to flinch away. "You'll be mine, too, won't you?"

./.

Chizuru was getting tired of playing around.

It was fun, cutting down everything in the stupid park. It was ugly, she didn't like it, she hadn't liked it when they first came hereand she sure as hell didn't like it _now_, she didn't understand why the damn owner of the damn high-rise _wanted_ a park made beside his high-rise in the first place, it wasn't as if business men had _time_ to schmooze with each other on the sad, pitiful excuse for a damn park.

It wasn't fun that the only thing the damn brat was doing was _dodging_ her, and doing a great job of it, too. She took pride on her precision, but it seemed that, no matter how fast she was, he was faster and he knew exactly where to go so she would have a damn hard time making a follow up.

Spending time playing around with an Academy brat that was doing nothing but putting a huge blow to her ego and making her _sweat_ in her kimono wasn't doing anything good to her mood. One of the things she hated the most was _sweating_ in her kimono, she never liked the sensation, and she absolutely hated what sweat did to her precious kimono.

That was it.

This brat was going to die and he was going to die very, very, very painfully. She didn't think Ashikaga-san would mind if this brat's pretty little face was damaged and cut up, she was damn _angry_ and right now, she was past the point of caring for the damage blood would do on her kimono, it had already been damaged by _sweat_ anyway, she was highly unlikely to want to wear it ever again.

The only thing bugging her was she couldn't seem to remember what those two brats did. She knew their names, she could identify it with their faces, and she'd painstakingly typed every single information she'd had on each and every one of Persona's little puppets in Ashikaga-san's computer after she broke into the Academy and she was sure she hadn't missed a single, vital piece of data.

But right now, when she actually _needed_ it, she couldn't remember.

She had perfect memory.

"Getting distracted, Yurehime-san?"

She jolted back to the present. The voice came from somewhere to her right, closer than the brat had been the last time she looked, before she fucking spaced out.

What the hell was she thinking, letting her guard down like that?

She whirled to her side to face him, tightening her grip on her hilt, making sure that this time, _this_ time, she was going to hit his pretty little face and make him _beg_ for her to kill him.

Only she didn't.

She didn't move at all, she couldn't, her body was frozen in the position it had been and she couldn't get _any _part of it to move, no matter how much she tried.

"It was just too bad you had to forget about me," the brat was saying, moving into her view languidly, giving her a pleased, supercilious smile. "Or you would have known better to keep me away from your shadow."

He gestured to the ground, and Chizuru, who still had the freedom to move her eyes looked down as best she could to see that he was standing on her shadow.

He was the shadow alice user.

_Fuck. _

He must have seen something in her eyes, because the next moment, he had raised his clenched fist...

And her arm followed precisely every movement, down to the angle of the arm so that her katana was buried a few centimeters into her chest.

Blood was welling up around the weapon, and falling down her kimono, _staining_ it. She supposed she really shouldn't be thinking about things like that right now, and she wasn't really, only a small part of her lamented about the irreparable damage this was causing her kimono.

For the most part, she was thinking of how to regain control of her body back so she could thoroughly mutilate the smirking little brat in front of her.

Damn him and his pretty little face all to hell.

"Let's see if I understand your anatomy, lady immortal," he said, eyes as sharp as ever. "If I _pushed_ and hit your heart, you would die. You would awaken, yes, but you'd still die."

That was true and that wasn't a problem for her. He could kill her as many times as he liked and she'd still wake up without a single injury on her, and she, unlike Hinako, was fine with dying.

She'd just wake up again, anyway.

"I could kill you how many times I like and you'd still wake up so that I could kill you again." The brat paused, moving his arm so now her katana's bade was pressing lightly at the side of her neck. "Tell me, if I dismembered you, would you attach yourself back together?"

... Persona raised these kind of brats? No wonder, they were all just as sick and twisted as he was. She'd still wake up, of course, no matter how she died, but dismemberment was her least favorite. She'd tried before, once when she was in London and she had gone a step too close for a lord's liking, she'd woken up on a small dirty forest on some backwater little town that she'd rather not remember.

She was not overly eager to try again.

"Of course you would," the brat was answering for her, with the same patronizing tone. "I, on the other hand, play with shadows. They dance to my tune, and now that I have yours, I do suppose you understand that you can't escape right now.

"If you did, anyway, I'll just kill you, and your shadow would still be mine."

His smug smile was pissing her off. She wanted to-

"Oi, Yukimura!"

She hadn't even been _aware_ of the presence of the other brat, but she suddenly felt her chances of escaping dropping from slim to none at all. She didn't remember what the other brat could do, either, and she suspected they were the ones who tampered with her memory.

The Yukimura brat was turning away from her, his gaze falling on the other brat outside her field of vision.

"You know, the park could be prettier," the other brat commented and she had to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"It's protected by a damn illusion, Chitose-kun," Yukimura answered back, his voice calm, though there was a sickly-sweet edge to it. "Can you get this over with? I'm tired and I want to go back to the Academy already."

There was a pause, and Chizuru used it to try and get escape from the control the brat had on her shadow. They couldn't kill her, she knew that, but she wasn't sure what that Chitose could do, and she'd rather not find out the hard way.

"What's her name?" she heard him say, and she had to admit she was surprised when the Yukimura kid, who had been calling her Yurehime up until now answered, "Maihara Chizuru."

Then suddenly, the other brat's face was the only thing she could see, with his slight smile and his magnetic eyes.

"Chizuru," he breathed. "Maihara Chizuru, from this moment on you'll do whatever I say. No one else's opinion would matter, you'll obey only me and no one else."

Just like that, she didn't want to struggle anymore.

Her body relaxed as she stared back at Chitose Senri, smirking at her as he pulled away, thinking how good an idea it was to follow him.

./.

He didn't know how long he had been lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, but he had been staring long enough to know that there were exactly 116 flowers, 92 leaves and some 21 vines carved on the white molding decorating the side of the ceiling near his bed. He was sure of the number after he'd recounted. Seven times. He wasn't sure if he was up for counting yet again, finding exactly the same results, but it was better than thinking about other things he'd rather not think about.

Maybe this time, he should count the petals of the flowers and the thorns on the vines, too, just for the heck of it.

He'd wheedled off of afternoon class easily, his nii-san thought it was 'prudent' because he was having 'post-death-walking-trauma'. He didn't have post-anything, of course, not anymore, not after he'd spent the entire day yesterday having 'post-death-walking-trauma' and he could have gone to his afternoon classes if he wanted to.

He didn't want to.

He suspected anyone else wouldn't want to do _anything_ after meeting someone like Persona either, he was lucky he still had the strength to count moldings (and recount them seven times).

Who was he kidding? He was lucky he _survived_ the meeting.

Why did he even think Persona was... nice? He wasn't, but he wore the mask easily, and Syusuke had been fooled by the act, and the mistake had driven him almost to the point of being hysterical.

He knew so much about what Syusuke can do, maybe even more than Syusuke knew himself, because Syusuke supressed most of the knowledge sometimes, he didn't want to be reminded of the horrible things he could do to the people he loved.

And Persona knew so, so much about him, it _scared_ him.

Not to mention all the things he knew about people in general.

What was that he said about his mother? Something about not expecting her to have had a son like him.

What did that _mean_? What was so wrong with his alice that Tezuka Ayana couldn't have carried him for nine months, just like any other baby?

No, wait, he was thinking too much into it.

_Count, just start counting again and stop thinking about it_, he told himself.

He was just thinking too much.

./.

Persona knew he should somehow feel victorious over his latest (and frankly, one of his most prized) conquest. And he was, of course, he was ecstatic, but his inner celebration was somehow muted by the fact that he was baffled.

He'd been too busy being irritated these past few days to have thought about it, sure, but now that he wasn't irritated or busy or scheming, he had the time to think, and he was _baffled_.

He knew Tezuka Kuniharu, he was one of the students Persona cared cared about in his time in the Academy, and he knew Tezuka Kuniharu's pretty little thing of a girlfriend, too. She was his leverage against Kuniharu, and he'd been very glad of her existence, actually, because ever since he found her, all he'd had to say was 'jump' and Kuniharu would've had instantly replied 'how high?'.

He'd been able to squash all of Kuniharu's fucking morals because of one girl.

She hadn't been under his jurisdiction at all, and he couldn't recall which of the other ability types she belonged in, all he remembered was that Ayana was the Academy's best healer in her day.

Her alice was something deeply rooted to life, and not Dangerous Ability Type material at all.

He'd heard that they married, and he hadn't expected anything else, and he'd been looking forward to having their son(s) or daughter(s) to play around with, really, Kuniharu had been quite the effective, obedient puppet.

It turned out they had two sons.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, the older one, had the Alice of Pain. It was quite typical, for a Tezuka, though one with an alice as potent and as powerful as Tezuka Kunimitsu's was hard to come by, even for a Tezuka. He'd expected the older to have that kind of alice, too, though not as powerful, considering pretty Ayana and her healer abilities, but he was _that_ powerful, and Persona had very gladly taken him under his wing.

On the other hand, one look at Tezuka Syusuke and all Persona had been able to think about, at that time, at least, when he hadn't known any better, was why the hell was this kid in the Dangerous Ability Type? Tezuka Syusuke looked as delicate as pretty little Ayana (and served as good a leverage as she had been) and Persona had often thought, more than once, that the kid had his mother's alice of healing, which begged the question why was he even in Persona's jurisdiction?

It turned out that Tezuka Syusuke had an even more covetable alice than his brother.

_How_ it was possibe, though, was what Persona can't understand.

Tezuka Ayana was basically the embodiment of an alice of _life_, and even though the kid Syusuke had Kuniharu's genes, it shouldn't have been possible for someone like _Ayana_ to bear someone like Tezuka Syusuke, whose alice provided him control and hold over _death_ that Persona couldn't even hope to find somewhere else in the next fucking millennia.

Life and death. Together for nine months.

It _shouldn't_ have been possible. Not for an alice as potent as Tezuka Syusuke's.

Or maybe it _could_ be possible, Ayana was a strong healer after all. Knowing how celebrated her abilities had been, she could have kept herself and her baby healthy (not to mention _alive_) all through her nine months of pregnancy and labor.

... No, it still wouldn't have been possible.

It wasn't in their _genes_, they could not have given the fucking alice to Tezuka Syusuke even if they fucking wanted to, both of them had _absolutely_ no fucking affinity with death.

Unless he missed something and the Tezuka family actually branched out and intermarried with another clan, it couldn't have been possible (should he dig deeper and research?).

If it was Ayana's pretty thing of a best friend though (what was her name? Yo-something), who married-

But they were _dead_. And so were all the Tezukas.

He had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming in frustration.

... Perhaps he was just thinking too much. That could be it. It would probably save him a lot of trouble if he was.

* * *

><p>Lia: You guys can see why I yelled at her for this chapter.<p>

Clary: (Whatever, Lia) Not my best, I know... I'm sorry~~~~~~~~~~~~ Waaaaaahhhhhh~~~ I can't write properly when I know Lia's gonna LEAVE ME ALONE this time next year~~~~~~~~

Lia: I was talking about the fact that Issa couldn't write a single decent fight scene, I had to scrap it all off and just make do with what you guys read there. But once again, Issa blows things out of proportion and steers the topic back to college. (I'm still APPLYING, Issa, it's not even final yet.)

Clary: But Aunt Alice (and Rien) is (are) all for it! That's as good as final! Why can't you be like Elle and just study here?

Lia: Elle's majoring Music. I'm not.

Clary: I don't care, you're AMAZING at the clarinet, you could be a Music major like Elle.

Lia: Right, and you can write a decent chapter without me hovering at your back telling you to write already.

Clary: Liaaaaaaaaaa~~~~~~ I can't finish this without you~~~~~~~~~~ This is why we share an account remember? So I finish my stories?

Lia: There were extenuating circumstances.

Clary: What extenuating circumstances? Extenuating circumstances my ass, Lia. You guys all agree with me, don't you? LIA COULD STAY HERE and study to her heart's content.

Lia: ...(ignoring Issa) Please review~ I promise I'll make Issa write seriously so the same circumstances won't happen again. I promise. :)


	12. X No Other Tezuka

Clary: OH MY GOD, I'M SO PROUD OF THIS CHAPTER~~~~~ WAAAHHHHHH~~~~ I'm soo happy~~~~~

Lia: I think this has something to do with the fact that oh-my-god-Lia-has-finally-allowed-Issa-to-write-a-Chitose-scene.

Clary: YES! I've wanted to write a Chitose scene since like EVER, except that Lia's always scrapped them because she never thought they fit. This time, IT FIT and I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lia: I have to warn you guys a little: the reason why Issa loves her little Chitose scenes is because Chitose curses. A lot. Meaning that she has an excuse to curse all she wants because she always tells me that she's just 'trying to put Chitose in character' (as if I believe her...)

Clary: Woot woot~~~~~~ (delirious with joy)

Lia: So yes, the Chitose scene is a little dangerous to those who don't like... colorful language. You've been warned. I tried to get her to use the bare minimum, honestly, I did, but allowing the Chitose scene was the only way to get her to write this chapter.. so there.

Clary: Joy to the world~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lia: Just... please be warned. Oh, and if you guys are asking, yes, Issa talks just like Chitose. Unless her mom or I'm there to put her mouth under control.

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (oh my gosh, Lia, I love you for letting me write my Chitose scene~~~), Alatarielf (don't worry, we promised to finish this story and we WILL~~ because we love you soo much~~), neumegami (thanks so much~ we've made up now.. sorta... oh and you deserve our comments~ you're the best artist we've seen EVER~), phoenixfirekitsune (maa... Persona likes powerful puppets... hope you like this chappie~), lemon-and-chai (there'll be more~~ read and see~ we love Yukimura and Chitose too~~), Shuzuka (haha~ we're glad we made you happy~), BleuFleur (read and see, ne? Oh and great guess~ perfectly spot on~~), yume229 (thanks, ne? Your comments mean a lot to us~), sotfreakazoid (CORRECT!), Knightess of Cydonia Starlight (we're glad we amuse you~~~ oh my god, we love comma fans~~~ -bear hugs-)

* * *

><p><strong>X<strong>**. NO OTHER TEZUKA**

* * *

><p>Syusuke can't sleep.<p>

He'd wrung himself dry thinking about his mother and Persona and nii-san and counting moldings, just trying to forget everything entirely (and failing dramatically), he couldn't sleep anymore. All he did was stare, and stare and stare at the ceiling some more.

He wished he could just go back to sleep, he didn't care about the nightmares anymore, let them come, at the very least, they were familiar in the way that they scared him, at the very least he understood _why_ they scared him.

He was feeling very many kinds of scared these days, he would have appreciated something that scared him ever since a long, long time ago.

He was scared of Persona, and part of him wanted to think that he knew why entirely, but he didn't, of course. He tried to think that he was scared of Persona because he could kill people just like that, without even batting an eye, but he had never been scared of death before, he _walked_ in it, why would he be scared? Maybe he was scared of what Persona seemed to know about his family, but he didn't know, _he didn't know_.

He found himself not knowing a lot of things these days, and just... he _didn't know_ what to do anymore.

Then there was his nii-san. He was scared of his nii-san, too, because suddenly, there were all these feelings that he didn't understand, feelings that he shouldn't be having because they were _related_ and... _It hurts_.

He'd woken up that morning, a few hours after the kisses, feeling so contented and loved and altogether happy. And then he realized he was alone at exactly the same moment he realized that it was his _nii-san_ who... who he'd just... And he'd wondered if it all had been just a dream.

And then his nii-san saunters out of his bathroom, and suddenly it was not a dream, it was _real_, and nii-san looked so beautiful like that, but nii-san didn't show any signs of recalling the events that morning, so he pretended he didn't either. It hurt so much, trying to let go of a memory so precious, but if it made things easier for his brother, then he would not have hesitated to do it all over again.

And he'd lain in his bed, still awake in the middle of the night, telling himself that there wasn't anything to be afraid about, he was thinking too much when it came to Persona and he was _feeling_ too much when it came to his brother, and just overly paranoid about everything else, that everything was actually okay and would be okay in the morning.

It was such a shame that it wasn't working.

No matter how much he tried, he didn't have the heart to believe any of it and no matter how much he tried, it _hurt_.

It was why he found himself sneaking into his brother's room, like he always used to do before and worming his way into his brother's bed, trying to find the comfort he had drawn from his brother before, trying to find _something_ that would calm him down enough to get him to sleep.

Only he found nothing but pain.

It hurt even more, lying sideways, watching his brother sleep, knowing his brother wasn't even aware of his presence, wishing he _was_, and that nii-san would love him the way he did that morning, kissing him, looking at him like he was the center of the universe, like he was the most important thing ever in his brother's entire life.

It was a selfish thing, he knew, and he wouldn't be the only person in nii-san's life forever. Some day, his nii-san would find a girl he really liked, and they'd marry and have a family, and Syusuke would have no choice but be happy for them, even if he was left alone, with no one else, because he wouldn't have the strength to love anyone else but his nii-san.

He turned his head upwards, so he saw the moonlight playing on his brother's face and imagined not having that face to look at when he woke up from his nightmares at night, and found that he couldn't.

He reached out an arm to trace his brother's face, smooth and perfect, just as his brother always was, through the responsibilities and the obligations he'd taken up when everyone they loved had died. His face was unguarded right now, when he can't have control because he was asleep, and it was beautiful to Syusuke.

He smiled softly, admiring his brother's face in the moonlight. Nii-san was still a child, despite everything, nii-san was still a child. He hid it very well, better than Syusuke did, but the childish unruliness of his hair and the childish curves of his face that he han't grown out of were both strong indications. All those, of course, were masked by his stern expression and his confident and strong bearing, but nii-san was still a child, too.

He was still a child, and Syusuke... He shouldn't burden his nii-san too much.

The things Syusuke was feeling would only become a nuisance and bring uncertainty to the child his brother truly was, and Syusuke can't bring himself to hurt his brother like that.

It was... It was time he grew up, too.

He brought himself up to give his nii-san one last kiss, one last... before... before he'd try to forget everything so that nii-san could be happy.

It was just a brush of their lips, though it succeeded in picking up the pace of his heart, but Syusuke pulled away, he didn't know how he did it, but he pulled and walked away.

It was only when he was in the darkness of his room that he let himself _feel_ again.

He let himself admit he loved his brother, he let himself cry over it, he let himself feel the despair because no one would be around to see.

Everything was distant, his room felt altogether too big now, everything was so far away, or maybe it was just because he felt alone.

He promised himself this was the last night he'd allow himself to be a child. Tomorrow, he'd grow up the way he refused to, many, many years ago, when he needed to. He'd grow up like his nii-san did, the day their parents died. He'd grow up and take up the responsibilities and obligations his brother had shouldered a long, long time ago. He was long overdue for it, anyway.

But for now, for tonight, he'd let himself cry like the child he really was.

./.

Chitose Senri was not a morning person, he never was, never will be, he was always cranky when he lacked sleep.

Therefore, he had every fucking right to be cranky when he hadn't had sleep for an entire fucking day and a half, had drunk two damn cups of what was probably the worst coffee in the entire fucking world, had spent said entire day and a half with a fucking, prissy bitch princess who can handle little profanity (_and_ who'd made him pay for the crap coffee of the fucking diner) and was now being denied sleep because he had to stay with another equally bitchy idiot of a thief 'for interrogation purposes.'

Interrogation purposes his ass.

The bitch wasn't fucking going _anywhere_, she was in one of the fucking rooms Persona created (? or whatever, he couldn't care less how Persona got them), she was under his fucking influence and he'd told her to stay put, damn it, _and_ to top it all off, she was fucking tied up, too, by bitch princess' fucking shadows.

They could fucking question her sometime later, in a more decent hour, when Chitose had had his sleep, because he was a goddamn human and he needed to _sleep_, don't give him some crap about how they had to interrogate her _now_, the bitch could wait until he was well-rested, she could wait _forever_, if he wanted her to and she would, because she was under his _fucking influence_.

Except, of course, bitch princess didn't get it.

And Chitose spent the entire hour the bitch was lecturing him about time and etiquette, finding new ways to curse him to hell and back and back again.

He was wasting many, many, many hours of his fucking life here, being lectured by a bitch and later on interrogating another bitch, he was going to be sure to fucking collect.

No wonder Keigo hated bitches. They were... well, bitchy.

He looked up from where he had slumped his head on the table and realized that the bitch princess had already left, leaving him alone with the other pretty bitch he'd flirted with across the street. He must admit, he felt a little pride with that stunt, no one had ever managed to flirt with anyone from all the way across the street, he was probably the first, and he'd flirted with an equally flirty girl, even though she turned out to be a bitch.

"You will anser all my questions," he ordered her and he felt his anger spike again at watching her blank expression.

Fine. _Fine_. He was going to fucking interrogate the stupid bitch, he was going to _ask_ questions and that was it. That was it. He was just going to ask some damn questions, the prissy princess can't expect him to be bothered with _listening_ to the answers, he wasn't going to, and if the princess didn't tape this stupid interrogation and can't find the answers to his damn questions, then it was _his_ problem, and his problem alone, it was certainly not Chitose's.

After a few minutes of trying to find the best way to say the question, he finally came up with a decent, cliche, profanity-free, "Who are you working for?"

Nevermind that it came out like 'whoreyuworkinfor' because he'd slurred the words together in an effort to say them all in one grunt so he won't be tempted to add extra colorful language. Whatever. The bitch can fucking understand.

She gave a monotonous "Ashikaga-san" for an answer. Needless to say, Chitose wasn't very happy.

"Give me his whole fucking name, you bitch!" he screamed out, but for all his efforts, the girl only opened and closed her mouth like a fucking fish, and said, _again_, "Ashikaga-san".

As if Chitose didn't hear it the first fucking time. He resisted the (strong) urge to order her to strip and dance around like the fucking chicken she was.

What happened to his resolve to not listen to her answers? Apparently, bitches were in a completely different universe from Chitose, they just didn't understand that Chitose _needed_ the fucking sleep and damn them all for wasting his time and just being altogether bitchy.

"Why did you break in the Dangerous Ability students' records?" he managed to grind out, struggling to keep his speech free of profanity. It was hard, he wanted (so, so much) to swear the bitch to kingdome come.

"Ashikaga-san wanted to know if there was any student in the Academy that could interfere with his plans."

"Was there any?" he asked, stragely curious about this game the immortals were playing. If he was going to spend his sleep-alloted time interrogating a fucking bitch, he might as well enjoy it (and no, he hadn't forgotten his vendetta on bitch princess and he _won't_ forget, no matter how enjoyable, _god forbid_, this interrogation might be).

"None that we are aware of."

Okay... That was... bad. "What is his plan?"

"He wants to destroy the Academy."

Okay... _That_ was even worse. He plans to destroy the Academy and no student could be able to interfere with his 'plans'. That was... well, that was definitely not good. "How?"

"He wants to come into contact with the Greater Dead, Morto, chained beyound the Seventh Gate. Once he has Morto under his control, he could be able to command an army of dead to destroy the Academy and he, himself, would be unreachable in Death."

Chitose wanted to gape in surprise. "Your Ashikaga-san can _walk in death_?"

"Research of the bloodline allowed him to."

He could feel the realization _seeping_ in and oh, god...

_Research of the bloodline allowed him to._

_Of the bloodline_.

Oh, god. He could already venture a guess as to what bloodline that was (and he was pretty sure he'd be right, too).

Oh, god.

"Was... Was that the reason why...?" He couldn't even _ask_ the stupid question, it was all so... Oh, god. "Was that the reason why...?"

"Why Ashikaga-san sanctioned the massacre of the three clans, yes."

Oh, god. . Oh, god. "Why?"

"Ashikaga-san killed all three clans himself, though the massacre of the Yukimura and Tezuka clans were only to make sure. Ashikaga-san didn't want to risk any interference."

"_Why?_" he asked, more forcefully this time, because he _needed_ to know, this was very, very important.

"The massacre of the Fuji clan was sanctioned because of their affinity to death. The Yukimura and Tezuka killings happened because of their ties to the Fuji, Ashikaga-san didn't want to leave any string untied."

"You weren't able to kill all of them," Chitose stated blandly, because it was a _fact_, bitch princess, Tezuka and Syusuke were still alive. Alive and powerful.

"The scions of the Yukimura and Tezuka clans, Yukimura Seiichi and Tezuka Kunimitsu, hardly pose a threat to our plans."

"What about the other Tezuka?" This was a little risky, considering. This bitch _looked_ at all the files of the Dangerous Ability students, she would have seen Syusuke's file, too.

... Wait. That time... That time, Syusuke's file was with Persona.

"There is no other Tezuka." This was said very firmly. He was right, she hadn't seen Syusuke's file. What was he thinking when he thought that she had seen Syusuke's file? If she did, she would have known that Syusuke was a danger to them, Syusuke walks in death, he _commands_ death.

She would have known who Syusuke was, too.

Chitose smiled, but it was without humor. Still. "Of course not."

./.

Yukimura stood outside Syusuke's door and listened to him cry. He could pretty much tell what happened in the day that he was gone and he couldn't help but feel more than a little angry.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, being the idiot he was, went and screwed everything up so badly in a measly (give or take) twenty-four hours, Yukimura didn't know where to start the damage control.

Persona finding out about Syusuke was... okay, he guessed, he could deal with that, he could deal with Persona knowing about what Syusuke could do, yes, he could, that was the okay part. The not-okay part was Tezuka basically molesting Syusuke so that Syusuke's feelings caught up to him and _forgetting_ all about it. So now, Syusuke thought that he was being selfish, as well as, unloved.

But seriously, _how could you forget about almost-screwing your own brother_?

Yukimura wanted to bang his head against the door. Tezuka, in the duration of the (give or take) twenty-four hours that Yukimura wasn't around, managed to throw Syusuke in a whirlwind of feelings that Yukimura can't protect him from, that _hurt_ him, was still hurting him, and, if the crying from inside the room was any inkling, made him feel like he wanted to die. All because of his idiocy.

Yukimura wanted to go into Tezuka's room and _squeeze_ all the stupidity out of him, why the hell had he entrusted his only cousin's happiness to an _idiot_, of all things? Yukimura wanted to go into Tezuka's room, wrap his hands around that stupid neck and _squeeze_ until all the idiocy was drained out of the idiot or until he choked and died, or both, Yukimura didn't care what, as long as he did _something_ to Tezuka, Syusuke wasn't supposed to _cry_ like that, Tezuka was supposed to make Syusuke _happy_, for god's sake, it was the only reason why Yukimura had allowed his cousin to be within ten feet of the idiot.

He wanted to bang the idiocy out of Tezuka, only he can't do that, idiots are going to keep on being idiots and keep on screwing years of well-made plans up no matter what he did with them. He wanted to _kill_ Tezuka, only he can't do that, either, he would only succeed on making Syusuke's condition worse than it was right now.

So he did the next best thing.

By early dawn, he was sitting on one of the many plush armchairs in Tezuka's suite, holding a folder in one hand, and stonily waiting for the idiot to wake up.

Ten minutes before the alarm was set to ring, there was a rustle from the bed and out came Tezuka Kunimitsu.

He noticed Yukimura almost immediately, and Yukimura wasn't surprised, they were trained for these kind of things.

"Yukimura," the idiot acknowledged, reaching for his glasses and fixing him with a firm stare. "What's wrong?"

Yukimura narrowed his eyes, but he gave Tezuka a twisted version of his usual smile. "You tell me," he said in a calm, carefully controlled voice, cocking his head to the direction of Syusuke's room. His sobs had subsided, but it hadn't stopped entirely, and one can still hear it, especially if one was trained the way they were.

The eyes behind the glasses widened (only by a little, the jerk). There was an almost unseen jolt in Tezuka's body, as if he was fighting off the reflex to run into Syusuke's room, and Yukimura thought, _good_, at least he took his job of taking care of his cousin seriously.

Even though he sucked so badly at it.

"He's crying," Tezuka said, as if Yukimura needed to be reminded. "Why?"

Yukimura widened his smile in a great effort to not just wrap his arms around that neck and squeeze. He was fighting a heroic battle against his violent urges so much, he felt like he should be given medals. "I wouldn't know," he said, and not without venom. "I wasn't the one who basically molested him and forgot all about it, leaving him to try and make sense of everything all on his own."

Surprise flashed in the idiot's eyes for about half a second before he regained his composure. "I.. I didn't..." Or perhaps not.

"Of course you didn't." Yukimura offered him a patronizing smile. "You were only shoving your tongue down his throat and undressing him. I'm not a master at words, so who am I to say that was molestation?"

"Yukimura..." Tezuka sighed and Yukimura wanted to butcher him. "I... That was a mistake."

"That's right, that's what Syusuke thinks," Yukimura replied. "He also thinks that he's dirty and selfish and twisted for loving you and enjoying your kisses, and I'm sure you think he's right."

Tezuka looked up sharply. "I don't-"

"Damn it, Tezuka!" Yukimura cried, already at the limit of his patience. He was tired of all the 'I don't' and all the 'I didn't' and all the 'that was' that seemed to be all the idiot was capable of. "He loves you, do you understand? He loves you and you were supposed to make him _happy_."

Yukimura realized he was standing now, and shaking with barely-suppressed anger. He was clutching the folder he held tightly and he worked to relax himself so his grip on the folder loosened. He jerked his free hand in the direction of Syusuke's room and Syusuke's crying. "He's not happy, or am I wrong? Are those tears of joy?"

"You know as well as I do why we can't-"

Yukimura cut him off again. He didn't want to hear any of this guy's pathetic reasoning, none of them are good enough, none of them will ever be good enough. "Why you can't what, Tezuka? Why you can't love him? Are you saying he doesn't deserve to be loved the way he loves you, is that it, is that how you _really_-?"

Tezuka stood up, too. "I'm not saying that! I love him but-"

"But what?" Yukimura questioned, challenging him to try and insult _Syusuke_ once again. "But _what_? He loves you, you stupid idiot. He _loves_ you, how many times do I have to say it before it gets through your head?"

Tezuka looked away and the wicked side of Yukimura he liked to pretend didn't exist wanted to decapitate the idiot and have done with it. "He shouldn't," Tezuka finally said, his voice quiet.

"I agree with you, he shouldn't," Yukimura said, calming down now. "Lord knows how much I wished it not to be you, but it _is_ you. By some miracle, it's you and you make him happy. It's the only reason I _allowed_ him near you, Tezuka. You make him happy because he loves you." He clenched his free fist. "But you're not making him happy _now_, and so help me, if you hurt him ever again, I will make sure you never see so much as a strand of his hair for the rest of your poor, pitiful life."

"You can't do that," Tezuka protested, his eyes flashing behind his glasses. "You have no right-"

"I have _every_ right. I'm his cousin."

"I'm his brother."

Yukimura smiled, there was a dangerous edge to it that the wicked side of Yukimura approved of. "No, you're not."

"What are you talking about?" Tezuka demanded. "Syusuke is-"

"Not your brother," Yukimura finished, tossing Tezuka the folder he held. "Open it," he instructed when Tezuka caught it neatly.

Tezuka took all of a minute examining the file before he looked up. "This is Fuji Yoshiko's file."

"Yes, it is," Yukimura answered, sitting back down, feeling drained. "She went to Alice Academy, too, under Persona. She had the Alice of Decapitation, and when she graduated, she married the heir of the Fuji clan. They had three kids, or they were supposed to, anyway." Yukimura shrugged. "She's my aunt."

"She's _dead_," Tezuka stated before he looked up again and fixed Yukimura with a look. "Your _aunt_?"

Yukimura shrugged again. "I'm not related to you or your mother," he said, returning Tezuka's stare. "I'm only related to Syusuke."

"But Syusuke-"

"_Isn't your brother_," he said firmly. How much of an idiot can this guy be? "Syusuke is the Fuji heir, _was_ the Fuji heir, before the Fuji clan died out, the way ours did." Yukimura looked away, trying not to remember the hurt, all the loneliness. "The Fuji clan was the first."

"The Fuji clan," Tezuka repeated, looking down at the folder again. "The Clan of Death?"

Yukimura gave him a bland smile. "Exactly. Anyone with half a brain, who knew the history of the Fuji family, and knew of Syusuke's abilities would know right away who Syusuke really was."

"Persona-"

"Probably knows already, I'd expect."

"Fuji Yoshiko-"

"Is Syusuke's mother," Yukimura finished for him.

"I wasn't... going to say that, actually," Tezuka said. "Fuji Yoshiko was my mother's best friend."

"I know that, too," Yukimura replied, allowing a small smile. "That's probably the reason why Syusuke ended up with your family. You were the closest."

"How, though?"

Yukimura looked towards the ceiling. He already knew, of course, shadows are _everywhere_ and they are witness to a lot of things, and what the shadows couldn't give him, he was able to gather himself. "Syusuke is younger than us, by a year. He had an older sister, Fuji Yumiko. She was about nine years older than Syusuke. I might have met her once or twice, I don't know, I was still a child, about one or two. But she was gifted by the alice that allowed her to see future deaths."

Yukimura looked at Tezuka, who had sat back down on his bed. He glanced back up at the ceiling. "Syusuke was still a baby, then. It was winter break, and Yumiko went home to her family. Fuji Yoshiko was pregnant with her third child, Fuji Yuuta."

"This Fuji Yuuta.." Yukimura looked at Tezuka and saw him hesitating.

Yukimura smiled sadly. "He died before he was born."

"Ah."

Yukimura smiled again. "I don't know when but presumably, a day before the massacre, Yumiko predicted the deaths. The Fuji family can't just off and hide, they were a huge clan, so they resolved to fight. However, Fuji Yoshiko, afraid of what might happen to her young baby during the fight, gave Syusuke to your parents so that they could take care of him until she could come back for him after the fight." Yukimura sighed. "She never did. She, along with the rest of the Fuji clan, died the next day."

Yukimura blinked back a few tears. "The Yukimura clan followed two years after the Fuji massacre, but I was in the Academy then. And the Tezuka clan followed a few years after that."

"Why?" Tezuka asked, though his voice was tightly controlled, just like Yukimura was. None of them were ever comfortable talking about their pasts, it hurt too much.

"I don't know," Yukimura answered. "I don't know who did it, either, and believe me, I've been looking."

"I see." Tezuka was looking at the folder again. "Syusuke looks exactly like her."

"I know. He has his father's eyes, though."

"He does?"

"Yeah, only a Fuji has that color of eyes," Yukimura gave a small, fond smile. "It was how I was able to recognize him as my cousin."

"Only a Fuji," Tezuka repeated, and Yukimura didn't reply, he knew Tezuka was saying it more for himself than for Yukimura. "Syusuke... is a Fuji. Fuji... Syusuke. Fuji Syusuke."

Yukimura gave a worn-out laugh. "It sounds right, doesn't it? Tezuka Syusuke never quite had a nice ring to it."

He was surprised when Tezuka laughed, too. "It does. It feels right, too. It feels... freeing."

Yukimura watched as Tezuka turned to the light of the rising sun, shocked when a smile came to Tezuka's usually emotionless face. "I love Fuji Syusuke," Tezuka said slowly. "I love Fuji Syusuke and there is nothing wrong with that."

"I'm not going to give him up so easily," Yukimura reminded him, acting strong and angry, despite the relief and the inner celebration of his mind.

Tezuka turned to him, still with the smile, his face silhouetted by the sun's rays. "I'll fight for him, then. I love him."

Yukimura smiled. "Good."

All was good. All was going to be good.

For now, he can forget about the immortals and their plan that he'd asked Chitose to uncover. He'll deal with that later. They'll deal with everything later.

For now, they could all be happy. They deserved it.

* * *

><p>Clary: Lia thinks I'm going too fast with this chapter. But I'm under the opinion that it took me so fucking long to reveal that they're not brothers, this is actually a little overdue.<p>

Lia: Obviously, she doesn't understand what I was talking about. I meant that Issa, you've only just introduced the idea that they were brothers. And then, you go write this chapter, which pretty much explains the entire thing. IT'S TOO FAST.

Clary: No it's not, IT'S OVERDUE. It's MY story, Lia and I think it's OVERDUE. And the author is always right. (sticks tongue out at Lia)

Lia: Fine. I quit. I'm not your editor any longe-

Clary: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Stay! Okay, I was going too fast. I admitted it, see? Don't leave me~~~~~~

Lia: Honestly, Issa.

Clary: I NEED MY EDITOR. Did you guys know, that I went to this creative writing seminar thing and the speaker was all like: creative writers are like artists. They're the people who always 'need more time' or who always 'need inspiration'. And I was just like oh my gosh, he's talking about me!, in my head. Then he started ranting and stuff and then he was all like: so that's why, one of the most important things that creative writers must have is an editor. And I was like oh my gosh, that's totally Lia~ in my head.

Lia: If you guys are wondering, yes, a lot of things go on in Issa's head, and yes, she shares them all with whoever cares enough to listen (mostly me, and yes, it drives me crazy).

Clary: (I LOVE YOU LIA~~~) Anyway, the speaker suddenly went and said: so which one of you here has an editor? So I raised my hand and he asked me who my editor was and I was like, my bestest friend ever, Lia. And he was like Lia as in Lilliane (and then Lia's family name which I am not to reveal)? And I was like yeah..? And he was like oh, I know that girl. She's a really good editor, you better treasure her young lady. And I was like oh, yes, I treasure her a lot. Like always. You can call me the treasure lady. So Lia, why do you know my creative writing speaker person?

Lia: Issa, your creative writing speaker person is our school's publication moderator. I, technically, work under him.

Clary: ... REALLY? I didn't know that! Are you serious?

Lia: One hundred percent.

Clary: OH MY GOSH YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME~~~~ And I just sat there and looked like an IDIOT. I hate you, Lia. (And if you guys are asking, Lia kind of freelances editing with our school newspaper, so yeah~ the entire publication team is after her, actually, but Lia's all badass kinda no, I'm not interested~~~ because she loves me so much so her editing skills are all exclusively for me~~~~ YEY~~~ I love you, Lia.)

Lia: And she just said she hated me a few sentences before that... (She's over-exaggerating, by the way... you guys know how she gets...)

Clary: I'm NOT. My story is edited by a professional~~ Haha~~ So please review~~


	13. XI Morto

Clary: Ok, I know I promised you guys to be a good writer and write and everything but... school happened... And then, when I finally got a decent-looking chapter (after all the fail ones I made because school sucks off your creative-ness), I went to Lia's house and got caught in the middle of Lia and her sister's bitch-fight.

Lia: Issa, I'm warning you.

Clary: (not listening) So you see, this is what happens when there's a Lia-Elle bitch-fight: they yell at each other (REALLY REALLY REALLY LOUDLY) and in rapid-fire French, too, I swear, I didn't understand a single fucking thing they were saying, so I tiptoed out of their house and ran straight back to mine because no, I do not have a death wish.

Lia: I still ended up yelling at you anyway.

Clary: (sticks tongue out at Lia) FOR A COMPLETELY WRONG REASON BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT, I WAS NOT MISTAKEN AFTER ALL (HAH!) Take that, Lia~ (Why were you fighting with Elle anyway?)

Lia: I called her a belle laide.

Clary: ... (Because I could TOTALLY understand what that meant, Lia)

Lia: Belle laide, roughly translated, means beautiful in an unconventional way. It could also mean ugly-pretty. And you know Elle. She 'should never have nothing to do with _ugly_.' So I called her shallow and she started yelling.

Clary: Yeah~ (I'm totally in Elle's side~)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Belle laide, man, belle laide), Alatarielf (we're glad you love Chitose~ we love you just as much~~), phoenixfirekitsune (Yuuta's alice... hmmm.. –thinkthink-), lemon-and-chai (don't worry~ we ish have a plan!), BleuFleur ( :) Lia's under the same opinion as you, with Chitose, actually~), Knights of Cydonia Starlight (we're so glad we didn't misspell your pen name after all~~~ Lia's back to trusting me now~ yey~~), XinYue (wow~ thanks so much~ -huggles-)

* * *

><p><strong>XI<strong>**. MORTO**

* * *

><p>Syusuke hurt in many more places than what could possibly be allowed. He'd cried the entire night, on the floor, didn't have any sleep at all, and hadn't eaten for almost two days.<p>

His head was pounding, his body was hurting, his stomach was growling, and his eyelids felt heavier than he ever remembered them being.

His heart was hurting.

He stared dully up at the ceiling, waiting for anything to come along. Death, judgement, he certainly deserved it, considering how dirty he was, how impure his thoughts were, he deserved the punishment. Or maybe this was his punishment. All the hurting.

It made sense. Death would be relief; living like this, with the knowledge that his brother could never love him back, was torture.

It made perfect sense, but it still didn't erase the fact that he wanted to die, despite all the pep talk about growing up last night, all he wanted to do was lie down and wait for Death to claim him.

Or maybe he'd just go to Death himself, he certainly had the ability to, he'd just go to Death, and stay there, until he truly felt the currents, until the water would leech the life out of him, and he'd pass through the Ninth Gate and go wherever his parents were. It would help his nii-san, nii-san wouldn't have to worry about a burden any longer, he wouldn't have to take care of the child that was Syusuke any longer, he'd be free to love anybody in the world, without Syusuke bringing him down.

He laughed derisively. And after he'd just decided to grow up, too.

Somehow, anyway, he managed to go to the bathroom, managed to dress, managed to look presentable enough for him to get to class. He skipped breakfast, despite the protests his stomach was sending him, he wasn't stupid enough to go there, face his brother and break down whatever mask he was (somehow) able to put in place.

He trudged to his classroom, he was the first one there, went to his usual seat by the window and stared resolutely at whatever scenery he could see outside. Not that he saw it. He just... stared.

Meiko was in this class, but she came in late, and hardly anyone else ever bothered with Dangerous Types, especially when it was so obvious that they wanted to be left alone. So he was left well enough alone, and class proceeded as usual, or as usual as it would be, with him busily staring at nothing, his teacher busily pretending not to notice and Meiko busily looking over at him anxiously, passing him notes that he barely even glanced at, let alone read.

When the bell rang for second period, Meiko, brazen as usual, grabbed his wrist and dragged him all the way to the rooftop, not minding his mild, half-hearted protests about going to class or his mild, half-hearted begging for her to please just let go and leave him alone. She dumped him against the chain-link fence that surrounded the entire place and towered over him, hands on her hips, glaring viciously.

"Meiko," he started again, trying to think of some assurance that at least wouldn't make him seem like he was lying through his teeth.

"No, I am not going to listen to another fucking word from you until you listen to me," she cut him off harshly, raising her voice to him for what was probably the first time in his life.

"You miss more or less two days' worth of classes, and then when you return, you look worse than I have ever remembered you being, you act like some doll for the entire duration of first period, and you dare tell me there's _nothing wrong_?" She snarled the last two words out like they were offensive, vulgar things. "What the _hell_, Syusuke! There is something wrong, and we both know it, so you might as well tell me before I wring it out of your pretty mouth."

Syusuke opened his mouth... and closed it. What was he supposed to say? What did Meiko want him to say? It wasn't as if he could just up and say he was in love with his brother, or that he'd kissed his brother (twice, maybe more) and _liked_ it. He couldn't say that, not to Meiko's face, he didn't have the strength to face how twisted he was deep inside right now, especially not with Meiko watching. But he couldn't tell her anything else! There wasn't anything else. There was the issue and then there was nothing. Nothing. He couldn't open his mouth and explain all the nothing he felt, how do you explain emptiness?

"Ne, Meiko," he said instead, leaning tiredly against the fence, feeling everything that happened last night catch up to him. "There _is_ something wrong, but I'm dealing with it, okay? I'll be just-"

"What, you'll be fine? You'll be _fine?_ You're telling me you'll be just _fine_?" Meiko was screaming now. "_Bullshit_, Syusuke! You're obviously not _fine_, and you're obviously not _going to be fine_. At least, when you tell lies, find something even remotely believable. Don't give me some crap about how you're 'going to be fine' when you're obviously not, goddamn it. Don't fucking insult my intelligence!"

Syusuke winced. Meiko never used profanity, not even when she was mad, and yet... He sighed. "I get that you're mad, but, please, just..." _Just leave me alone_.

"I'm livid, Syusuke." But the voice was gentle this time. He heard the rustle of fabric before he was once again eye to eye with Meiko. Her eyes were hopeful, and so was her face, and she looked every bit the mother he had always needed. She reached out to touch his face. "Won't you tell me what's wrong?"

He felt like he did when he was with his mother, his beautiful mother, always kind and caring and loving, with her warm, brown eyes that seemed to see and know everything. There was a sobbing note to his voice when he finally said, "I'm in love." And even he, himself can hear the desperation.

He felt Meiko suck in a sharp breath.

Oh, that's right, he'd forgotten. She loved him.

Great. Just what he needed. He'd gone and destroyed another important person in his life. It seemed to be all he was capable of these days, destroying and hurting people. Tezuka Syusuke, the destroyer.

It sounded oddly fitting.

He glanced away, staring despondently at nothing again. _I have nothing left to live for_. Nothing at all. Somehow, feeling all empty inside only made his body seem heavier.

"You're... in love," he heard Meiko repeat slowly. Her voice was soft and without emotion. "I see."

There were tears again. How the hell can he still have _tears_? He'd cried himself silly the entire night last night, he wasn't supposed to _have_ tears anymore. "I'm sorry." It was the only thing he could give her right now.

"Don't be," she answered, moving closer, leaning her head against his chest. He moved his arms so that they encircled her, trying to convey to her just how sorry he was. He could feel her tears soaking his uniform.

"I wish I loved you, Meiko," he told her dejectedly. It would have been so much simpler if he did, and everyone would have been so happy. But he didn't. Instead, he loved someone he could never hope to have.

"Me, too." Meiko laughed through her tears, and Syusuke tightened his hold. "But you don't and it's okay. Love is weird like that," Meiko whispered, pressing closer.

"It hurts, too," Syusuke said, letting the tears fall. There was nothing he could do about them, anyway. "I didn't think loving someone could be this painful."

"Me, neither," Meiko replied. "It's most painful when it's like this." Meiko looked up from where she had buried her head to his chest, catching his eye. "Ne, Syusuke, who do you love?"

Syusuke looked away, turning his head to the sky, feeling the unfairness of it all. "Someone I could never have."

./.

The last Fuji.

Persona didn't know if he wanted to laugh because of the cheesiness of it all or if he wanted to just let it go and be proud of his acquisition.

He had the Fuji heir in his hands.

He didn't think it was possible, considering all the Academy knew about the massacre, all of the Fuji family had been wiped out. He didn't think he'd ever find another great death-related alice after the Clan of Death had been wiped out, and yet, suddenly, he finds that who would have been the next Fuji head had _survived_, and for one reason or another, was carrying the surname Tezuka.

He didn't feel like wanting to know how, he already suspected he knew, and he wanted to laugh hysterically at the great stroke of luck that has been bestowed upon him.

All three heirs of the Academy's most powerful clans!

The Tezuka heir, the Yukimura heir and most importantly, the Fuji heir (and he didn't even know it).

He felt oddly satisfied. All powerful, all Dangerous Types, all his puppets.

He didn't know what he'd done right in his past life to deserve something as great as this but he'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

Because if Tezuka Syusuke was truly the Fuji heir, his hold on Death was true, and he was truly powerful in Death. A truly powerful omnipotent presence in Death. A truly powerful omnipotent presence in Death that could undo death as easily as bringing it upon others. A truly powerful omnipotent presence in Death that could undo death as easily as bringing it upon others as his _puppet_.

Everything would become playthings in Persona's hand.

_Everything_. The Academy, the country, the continent, maybe even the entire fucking world.

He found himself laughing in glee and derision.

This is probably one of the most amusing, most _annoying_ times of his life.

Sure he had the Fuji heir _now_, but that was only because he'd been lucky enough to have _seen_ the kid demonstrate his alice in front of him. Had he been somewhere else that time, had he not been spying on Chitose Senri, had he not been annoyed, he'd never have seen what the kid can do.

He'd been fooled by the face, the surname and the brother.

He'd been played for a fool. And he played along stupid, too. So stupidly that he'd almost passed over this chance, almost squandered what was probably the strongest, most powerful alice the Fuji clan could come up with.

He clenched his hands into fists. Belatedly, he noticed the wooden table below them starting to blacken, on their way to becoming dry and powdery, the glass covering it already spiderwebbed with cracks.

_Calm down_, he told himself. Because he _had_ been there, he _had_ been spying on Chitose Senri and he _had_ been annoyed, so he _had_ seen what the kid can do. And now, he was under Persona's jurisdiction, Persona hadn't passed over anything, he hadn't squandered anything, he _almost_ did, but he didn't.

But he'd still have to teach Tezuka Kunimitsu a lesson.

_That's right. Calm_.

Later, he would deal with Tezuka Kunimitsu later. For now, he had to focus on his job with the immortal woman his puppets have captured for him.

It had been only a few moments before when the kid Chitose had sent him a transcript of his little interview with the woman, it had been what had confirmed his suspicion of Fuji Syusuke's identity in the first place.

He looked again, this time, really reading it.

...

Fuck.

Fuck.

The immortal bitch was working for Ashikaga?

_Fuck_. He should have _realized_, she was immortal, after all. He should have _realized_ sooner, when the massacres happened, it was something Ashikaga had been likely to do, after... well, after the disaster he'd made many, many years ago. There had been fucking _rumors_, but he hadn't believed them because he was damn busy and fuck, he'd been there when they'd _sealed_ him in Death. But if he had other immortals like this bitch working for him, if they had been working for him even _before_... Getting out of Death would have been easy.

_Fuck__._ Of course he'd kill off the Fuji family. They were the only ones who were able to stand a chance of stopping him the last time, they were the ones who stopped him the last time. He should have _realized_... And now, all the Fujis save one were dead, along with all the Yukimuras and all the Tezukas, and Ashikaga was doing what he had intended to do back then. He was doing it _again_, with the proper research, with a great amount of time, and with almost no one who could stop him.

He was more than likely to have already made contact with Morto.

Fuck.

An army of the dead. What was that that the Fuji kid told him about undoing death for those who have passed the First Gate again?

"_...When it passed through the First Gate... the spirit's connection with the body had already been... terminated. If I bring it back, the body... would just be a mere... vessel. Whatever happens to it physically wouldn't matter much."_

Fuck. How could he have had overlooked this?

He felt a headache coming. How could he have been so _stupid_? Damn it.

The Fuji kid. He needed the Fuji kid.

Now.

./.

The Seventh Gate, at last.

It wasn't particularly grand, it wasn't particularly special, it wasn't particularly _anything_ and he wouldn't have given it a second glance if it didn't hold something he particularly wanted.

There, just by its opening, barely visible but emitting such a strong power. The bindings that were laid down by who was probably the first Fuji.

He got closer to his goal, the silver markings glinting in the water. He couldn't understand half of these markings, he hadn't studied death as extensively as he would've liked, that was Murakami's job, but he knew enough about it. He knew enough about how to destroy it.

As if sensing his presence and his objective, the markings started glowing, white silver, obscuring the black tendrils that was what was left of Morto's presence. They emitted warmth, and they were hot, in contrast to the coldness of the river waters. He couldn't have imagined it to be this big. It encompassed almost the entire right side of the Seventh Gate's opening, all silver markings outshining the black tendrils. The size of the binding circle was enough to tell him just how powerful Morto truly was.

Morto, the only Greater Dead creature none of the Fujis were able to pass on to true death. Morto, the only Greater Dead creature that was merely bound, and only by the Seventh Gate.

A powerful creature, to be sure. And a creature about to come under his power.

He could sense what was taking place in life to help him fulfill it. He guessed this was what Murakami meant by something being wrong the last time.

He closed his lids and saw that fool mortal they'd 'recruited'. The mortal they'd found, the mortal who thought he was scamming _them_, the mortal who thought he could play _them_ for fools.

He couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Mortals were so weak. They believed anything, it was laughable. This particular mortal, for example, fancied himself to be knowledgeable in the occult. Knowledgeable, indeed. There weren't such things as vampires or werewolves, it was a stupid belief. And the 'magic' the stupid mortal claimed to be capable of was only from slights of hand and clever devices. But stroke the guy's ego a little and sympathize with his little false beliefs, and he will do just about anything for you.

He found that those who thought themselves knowledgeable of things normal humans don't want to know about were more foolish and stupid than normal humans themselves.

He focused back on the scene he could see unfolding in life at the back of his eyelids.

There were markings on the floor, especially designed, he knew, so that they countered and overpowered the markings that bound Morto in Death. They were drawn by the foolish human himself, though their forms and shapes were introduced to his subconscious by Murakami. They needed for the human to draw it himself.

Now, he was... Was he _dancing_?

He _was _(what the _fuck_?).

He was dancing around the circle yelling almost unintelligible words, but he recognized most of them enough to know that Hinako had probably wheedled Murakami to making the human believe that singing an obscene Norwegian song while dancing something that looked like a Mexican folk dance around the circle was part of the ritual. (He did not think for one second that the human understood what he was saying anymore than he didn't realize that this wasn't some ritual chanting he needed to say to be able to summon the dead)

Hinako was probably laughing her ass off right now, watching the human yell the Norwegian equivalent of 'like a virgin, touched for the very first time!' while dancing a dance whose title literally meant 'The Little Cockroach' around his circle. Damn it. He was going to _kill_ Hinako, damn everything Chizuru and Murakami would have to say about it. He'd probably kill Murakami, too, for letting Hinako wheedle him into botching his ritual like this, they were probably _both_ laughing their asses off, while he was freezing his in Death.

He was glad the human would get killed at the end of this ritual because really, if that human's death would be up to him, it would be really, really, slow and really, really painful because, damn it, he was ruining the seriousness and the importance of this ritual screaming about having sex 'like a virgin, touched for the very first time!' five keys off (barely pronouncing the Norwegian words properly) and flapping around, dancing 'The Little Cockroach'.

The stupid human didn't even have the decency to at least botch the ceremony _properly_, no, he had to be off-key in his singing and had to look like a _chicken_ while dancing 'The Little_ Cockroach_'.

... Fuck control.

He was going to _kill_ Hinako very, very painfully, and he'd record every single scream and watch over and over and she screamed for days before she'd die, wake up and scream again because if she wated to botch the ceremony, she couldn't have done a better job.

Finally, _finally_, the human was stopping, catching his breath, and picking up the damn knife, which he should have done, many, many minutes ago, instead of singing and dancing like the total idiot he was.

A drop of blood at the center of the circle.

The markings in life flared to life, bright sliver light engulfing the entire room. In Death, the markings, too, flared to bright light, getting brighter and brighter and brighter, spreading out through all of the other Gates, throughout the entire expanse of the river, before dimming and going out entirely.

At last.

Morto.

There wasn't much of the creature visible in Death now, not yet, and he closed his eyes to see what was happening in life.

Only black smoke was visible of Morto's body in the brightness of the markings of the circle, but it seemed to have been enough for the human. He was grinning madly, his eyes lighted up by an almost-feverish madness.

"... you should obey me," the fool was saying, as if something as powerful as this creature would yield to a weak idiot like him.

There was a rough sound from the circle, it reverberated in Death, louder than anything he had ever heard. A gruff laugh. He could feel the amusement rolling in Death, coming from that creature. Of course Morto would be amused. He was amused, too, watching the human make a fool of himself.

"_Foolish human_," a coarse, almost crude voice said, echoing his thoughts. "_I_ serve _you_?"

There was the laugh again, and he couldn't help but join in, it was just so _damn funny_.

The tendrils surged up, making their way out of the circle, engulfing the room with the human entirely, until it was all black. He laughed again, watching as the human screamed and cowered and terror, yelling about how he was the master of that circle, how he was the master of Morto now, when in fact, he wasn't. The human was just the sacrifice. Something he or Murakami or Hinako or Chizuru had neglected to tell him the day they asked for his services and pretended to be awed by his knowledge (or his stupidity, to be more fitting) and his power (or lack thereof).

The opened his eyes in Death, and waited patiently for the human's screams to stop.

He was in a very, very good mood.

All around him, in Death, formless masses were rising up out of the waters in movements that left much for wanting, they were all clumsy things, but they'd do very nicely, they'd do their job well, and they don't die.

His Army. His Army was coming together, and they were all utterly obedient to him.

All that's left was...

The circle that held Morto flared once again, and shattered. The tendrils now flowed out into the river, hot against the cold currents, so hot that steam rose up to disappear to the darkening sky. Slowly, though in movements more graceful than the others, the form rose up, towering over him by many, many feet.

He grinned up at the creature.

Morto was formless, just like many of those who had been stuck in Death for far too long. The creature was a big hulking mass of black and shadows, and black tendrils that were now drifting lazily in Death's waters. His eyes were bottomless pits of fiery red and were the only features that could be seen in his entire form.

Morto laughed again, and it was echoed by all those forms rising up from Death's waters.

The form drifted lazily down so that it was now at the same level as him. "_You allowed that fool to summon me, and yet, did not tell him what I would have done?_"

He smiled steadily back, still celebrating his success (despite the little speed bump of the idiot's singing and dancing). "He does not matter to me."

Another laugh, this time, louder than ever. "_You used him_." There was a brief pause and then, "_I like the way you think_."

"I'm glad the inner workings of my mind is to your liking," he replied serenely.

Laugh again. "_You are amusing, for a human._"

"Ah, but you see," he said carelessly. "I'm not a human."

Black tendrils drifted closer to him, warmth and steam before they backed away. "_Indeed._" The tendrils drifted closer again and he watched them carelessly, waiting for Morto to continue. "_You are not of my old enemies, either, and yet you walk in Death_."

"You mean I am not a Fuji." He grinned malevolently. "Of course not. Besides, I have killed them all. Only I walk in Death now."

"_So I see_."

"I am also the master of the circle, and I awakened you," he proclaimed, loud enough for all the creatures in Death to hear. "I am your master."

"_It would be a pleasure to serve you,_" the creature said, bending his formless mass in a mockery of a bow. "_We think alike, after all, Lord_."

There was a questioning air at the end of the sentence. He smiled patronizingly. "I am called Ashikaga."

There was a great laugh before Morto once again rose to his full height, proclaiming loudly, "_We are in the service of Lord Ashikaga!_"

He was answered by the shouts and shrieks of the many creatures of Death.

His Army. His Army of the Dead. He let out a victorious laugh.

"_Your orders, My Lord_?" Morto questioned, from where it was, towering above him.

"Let us move to the Academy."

* * *

><p>Clary: I am very unhappy with this chapter. This is the suckiest chapter I've ever made, it sucks so bad, it sucks. (throws herself to the floor and starts to cry)<p>

Lia: It might have something to do with the fact that Issa is nearing the end of the story (usually the time when she gets fed up writing her current story and start a new one). It's this sort of disease-slash-addiction she has, she'd never been able to finish even one story before and now she's going into withdrawals.

Clary: I have writer's block~ Noooooooooooooo~ (bawls)

Lia: But since I won't let her write another story until she finishes this one... Well, this happened. (Issa, I think it's FINE, okay?)

Clary: No it's not! You're just saying that because you're my friend. You're obligated to say that! It's your job!

Lia: No, it's not. My 'job' is to be your 'editor' and I say it's fine.

Clary: That's just it! It's just 'fine', it's not awesome or great or anything. (cries louder) It's just _fine_.

Lia: As your 'editor', I say it's fine and that's not a problem. A lot of people in this world can't even write a decent _sentence_, let alone a chapter. So be happy with what you got and stop being such a brat.

Clary: This is not making me feel better, Lia. (sniffles)

Lia: I'm not your friend right now, I'm your 'editor'. I'm not obligated to make you feel better.

Clary: FINE. (sniffs) I hope you all enjoyed it anyway (even if it was one of the worst things I have ever written. I totally blame it on the fact that I had to write about awakening a Greater Dead creature thingy. WHY did I have to write about a Greater Dead creature thingy?). I promise it'll get better. So please give me inspiration and review~


	14. XII Darkness

Clary: Lia's gone again... It's some stupid whatever-whatever-blah-blah, I didn't bother to know because she'll be back sometime ummm... tomorrow. Anyway~ Here's another chapter you guys (yes, Lia edited it already and she told me that if this isn't put up before she's back, she's gonna kill me so yeah~)

(:

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (who's gone off to some tropical paradise without me, I hope she gets shipwrecked or something), Alatarielf (aweeee... –sniffles- I'm so touched~ don't worry, the fifty kisses will happen soon~~), phoenixfirekitsune (yey~ don't worry, ne? Soon~~), lemon-and-chai (maa.. I love Persona too~ but for everything else, my lips are sealed!), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (me no telling! And Lia also told me how 'dark' the last chapter was... wow.. I always thought I couldn't write dark..), XinYue (next chapter, don't worry! This chapter _has_ to be written but Tezuka will be back next chapter~ :)), Eru no Tsubasa (-gasp- you've read _all_ the books in the series? I've only read the first one... maa.. and I'll try my best, kay?)

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><p><strong>XII. DARKNESS<strong>

* * *

><p>"Can you do it?"<p>

He can't, Syusuke wanted to say. He didn't want to go into Death. He didn't want to go into Death yet again, with only Person watching him, without anyone else, without his nii-san waiting outside for him.

It wasn't what he was expecting when another Dangerous Type approached him and Meiko on the roof. They'd been having a good time, too. Skipping class, just talking and laughing together, because they both hurt and they both understood what it was like to hurt the way they did.

And then some upperclassman approached them and told him that Persona wanted to see him. He'd said good-bye to Meiko and yes, everything was alright, all Dangerous Types were answerable to Persona, after all.

He'd come into the same office as the last time, and had noted that the bird was still there, chirping away, while Persona, behind his desk looked a little more ruffled than he usually was. He'd wondered what was the problem, and a minute later, without even bothering with the pleasantries of the last time, Persona had launched into a full tirade, peppered with curses here and there about how a person named Ashikaga was trying to awaken some creature named Morto and was about to create a something-something-Dead something Academy. That was the extent of his understanding of the situation before Persona neared him and asked if he could form a barrier against the Dead.

Subconscious knowledge arouse, telling him exactly how and that he'd have to enter Death for it to be effective. If he wanted to, he could have done it in a heartbeat, piece of cake.

He didn't want to.

"I can." He sighed. "But I'd have to enter Death."

He looked up to see Persona's sharp eyes, behind his mask, watching him sharply. "You don't want to?" Persona asked.

"I..." No, he didn't, he finished in his head.

"You know, if the Dead attack the Academy, its first line of defense are my students," Persona said, almost conversationally. "_My_ students. That means, your brother, along with all of your little friends would be fighting a battle they can't win."

Syusuke flinched. He knew that, of course, subconsciously, he just didn't want to acknowledge it, but now that it was out in the open like this, he'd have to face it.

The way nii-san did, many years ago. Syusuke had responsibilities and obligations. He had to grow-up, too. He remembered how he had told his nii-san about wanting Persona's acknowledgement just so he could protect his nii-san, too. Now, he was being given the chance to help everyone, to keep everyone safe, he was given the responsibility to protect _them_, the way they had protected him. He thought about Seiichi and Keigo and Senri and Kuranosuke, who'd all tolerated his childishness and loved him for it anyway, who'd laughed with him, cried with him, teased his nii-san with him. And then, there was nii-san, who he loved more than anything in the world, who cared for him and loved him and kissed him, even if it was just that one time.

He tried to imagine what it would be like without them.

He can't. They were family now, _his_ family, and he loved them all.

He'd go to any length just to protect them. Going to Death was such a small price to pay for their safety.

He gave Persona one brief nod, before he entered Death.

And found it different from how it usually was.

The first thing he noticed was the scent. Before, Death didn't have a smell, it didn't have much of anything, actually, but now, it smelled truly like Death. It smelled of rotting corpses and decay. He covered his nose, wanting to throw up. It was darker now, too, and the river waters were almost warm, where they had been cold before.

But the greatest change was that there were _creatures_ now, all the dead creatures that had lagged in the water and hadn't passed on to true death were awakening, their screeches and screams echoing all throughout Death.

Morto. This was because he was awakened.

He didn't realize just how much he was shaking. Death had never been so frightening before.

As if to prove his point, a creature screeched from somewhere out of his line of vision, before flinging itself at him. He barely avoided, stepping back quickly, only to have his feet slip under the rocks and fall down to the river with a big splash.

The waters weren't very deep here, and he felt pain in many different parts of his body, where they hit the river bottom. He tried to struggle to surface the water, but the creature was on him again, holding his arms, keeping him down. He tried to struggle free but the creature was stronger, and suddenly, the grip was on his neck now.

He couldn't _breathe_. Not at all, and black spots were dancing threateningly at the edges of his vision. He could feel the current getting stronger now, eager to pull him away, and for the first time in his life, the protection his alice afforded him was not working. He could feel the life being leeched out of him, darkness coming closer and closer.

_He was going to die. _

He was going to die and he was going to take everyone he ever loved with him. Without the barrier, they'd be fighting an army of the dead, they'd be fighting _Morto_, the most powerful Greater Dead creature there ever was, they'd be fighting an unwinnable battle and they would die.

They would die, just like he was.

He needed... He needed to...

Something in him snapped, and he didn't know how he did it but one second the creature was on him and the next he was screeching, falling back, falling to the river and dragged along by the current away from him, towards the First Gate, on its way to true death.

He surfaced the river, choking and sputtering, breathing air despite the smell, and before he was even finished catching his breath, he drew his hands together and clapped.

The harsh sound echoed again and again and all the creatures that heard it flinched and backed away. He clapped again, and again, and again, feeling the water become just a sensation once more. The creatures were screaming now, falling over themselves to get away from him as fast as possible.

He got up slowly, and shuffled as quickly as he could to the First Gate.

It was an excruciating process, and by the time he reached the gate, he had to literally lean on it to keep himself upright, he was dizzier than he ever remembered being, there were black spots on his vision again and all the creatures were well away from him, well away from the First Gate.

He slammed his hand on the gate, plams spread out, feeling the silver tendrils drifting from his hand, forming markings of protection and security, forming markings that would ensure that even _Morto_ would not be able to pass through.

_None shall pass_.

The markings flared brightly as he ran his fingers on them.

He smiled satisfactorily (he _did_ it!) and let himself slip back to life.

His eyes fluttered once, to afford him a view of Persona's desk, strangely covered in frost. There was something in his mind telling him that everything in the room he was in right now was covered in frost, an after-effect of what he'd done in Death, and there was something else telling him that this was supposed to be funny.

He can't bring himself to think of anything else. He closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness.

./.

Yukimura was having a full-blown anxiety attack.

Syusuke wasn't in his room (he checked, _thrice_), didn't come down to breakfast (as far as he knew, Syusuke hadn't eaten anything in _two_ _days_, what the hell was he _thinking_ skipping breakfast _again_ like that, he needed the _nutrition_, damn it), didn't go to class, except the first period, where, according to Minami-sensei, he'd spent his time brooding and sulking and no, Syusuke _never_ sulked in class before, he might _look_ like he wasn't paying attention, but he _was_, this was a first and _where the hell was he now?_

_Please_, don't tell him Syusuke was on a cliff somewhere about to jump off and end his life because an idiot name Tezuka Kunimitsu decided that he'd kiss Syusuke (while Yukimura was _gone_ and couldn't be there to help Syusuke through it, no less) and _forget_ about it. Because if he was (and he succeeded before Yukimura could be there to save him), Tezuka (damn Syusuke's obvious love for him) was going to be in a world of pain, Yukimura would make sure of it himself.

His shadows were of no help (_no help!_) at all and he was worrying himself almost to the point of being hysterical. Damn it, he _was_ hysterical, Syusuke wasn't _anywhere_, just _gone_ and he didn't know the first place to be _looking_.

Syusuke could be _anywhere_ by now, and a million and one different things could be happening to him (none of which are _good_, if Yukimura took Syusuke's current state of mind and physical health into consideration), hell, he could be even be _dead_ already, and Yukimura wouldn't know because he couldn't fucking _find_ him!

So help him, if he found Syusuke alive and healthy, there was going to be hell to pay, no one, _no one_ worried him like this and got away with it. He'd tie Syusuke to his bed if it meant he wouldn't be disappearing on him again like this, and he wouldn't listen no matter how much Syusuke would ask to be let go (and then maybe, he'd go about _feeding _Syusuke, the number of days his cousin was going without food was really very worrying, he'd even _force_ the food down Syusuke's throat if he had to, it'd serve him right for worrying Yukimura like this in the first place).

The sound of shattering glass took him out of his dark musings and he turned slowly towards the source.

The Shiraishi kid was staring resolutely at the building's floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the view of the field it afforded them as a fire alarm started blaring, throwing the entire high school building of the Academy into chaos. His closed fist was still in the fire alarm, little specks of blood showing through his usual white bandages.

Yukimura looked below. Tezuka, Chitose and even (wince) Atobe were pushing their way through the throngs of students, looking for that one very familiar face.

They were not making much progress. It did not take much to know that Syusuke wasn't there, nor was he coming out of the building like everybody else.

Yukimura felt himself hyperventilating.

"The building has been vacated." It was a calm voice, almost detached in the way Yukimura wasn't.

He turned back to Shiraishi. The kid was looking at him fiercely, unmindful of the blood and the pain that Yukimura knew he would have to have been used to by now. "The building has been vacated," Shiraishi repeated. "_Find_ him."

And underneath all that calm, unshakeable-looking exterior, Yukimura saw that Shiraishi was just as desperate as he was.

They all loved Syusuke, after all.

He gave a brief nod before whirling around, pushing past lagging students, running through corridors, sending shadows out scanning the area before him. He had to find Syusuke and he _had_ to be alive, because he just _had_ to. Yukimura wouldn't be able to survive losing another person he loved, not _again_, not especially if that was Syusuke.

Syusuke just had to...

_Be alive, Syusuke, please._

_./._

_She had pretty blue eyes. They were a shade lighter than his or two shades lighter, but they sparkled with the obvious joy that lit up her entire face. _

_She was very pretty, and he felt a little pull in his heart just looking at her smiling face beaming down on him._

_Abrubtly, without seemingly a warning, she turned her head around and called to someone behind her: "He's awake, okaa-san!"_

_He's awake? Who's awake?_

"_Come, quick!" she called again, this time excitedly, and with erratic little gestures that he assumed was supposed to mean "quick"._

_A woman came into view, with her pretty light brown hair and light blue eyes. They were nothing like his eyes, or the girl's but they were equally as pretty. She was smiling gently down on him and her face was so full of gentle love, he couldn't help but feel like he wanted to reach out to her. She had such a warm open face, all caring and motherly and he felt so strangely close to her, but he couldn't explain why. _

"_There, there, Yumiko," she said, patting the girl who called her on the head. "Please, let's be quiet. Our little angel might get startled."_

_Thus saying, she reached out a hand to cup his cheek and he leaned his head against the loving, almost-familiar warmth._

_The girl raised herself up a little and smiled at him again. "He wouldn't be scared, okaa-san," she said sagely. "He recognizes us, doesn't he?"_

_She brought her face closer to his, giving him a spectacular view of her pretty blue eyes. "Don't you, ne, Syu-chan?"_

_She looked so cute, pouting at him like that, he couldn't help but giggle. _

_She grinned back at him before moving her face away so he could see the finger that was pointed to her face. "I'm Yumiko-neesan, ne, Syu-chan? Say it with me, kay? Yuuu-meee-koo."_

_He tried to follow, honestly, he did, but it was too funny, seeing a grown girl trying to speak like a baby, all he could do was laugh._

"_Yumiko," the woman she called okaa-san said, with gentle reproach. "His name isn't Syu-chan and he's a boy. I doubt he'd appreciate very much if you call him Syu-chan when he's all grown up."_

_She took away her hand from his face and he suddenly felt cold. He was reminded of the rivers of Death the last time he went there, cold and frigid, caressing him invitingly, luring him to just give up and let himself be dragged by the current. _

Don't go!_ He pleaded silently, but she seemed to not have heard him._

_The girl was back to grinning again, saying, "But I'm his nee-san. I can call him whatever I want and besides, Syu-chan looks very pretty. Beautiful enough to pass for a girl, ne, Syu-chan? He'd grow up to be a little heartbreaker, someday, I'm sure." She gave him an indulgent little look and he tried to pass her the message that he _needed_ the warmth back, it was so cold without that woman's hands. _

_She didn't notice._

"_Until then, he'll be my Syu-chan."_

Blood, creatures of Death, dragging him away, further into Death, towards the Ninth Gate. He was drowning, choking, and he couldn't pull himself free.

Please! Stop it!

_He let out a choked cry but he didn't have the strength to hold back anymore. He let the tears flow. The woman looked startled for a moment before she reached out to him, with a calm, soothing face. _

"_Sshh," she whispered, picking him up and cradling him against her chest. "Everything's all right, darling. Okaa-san's here, everything's fine."_

_She was rocking him in a steady rhythm and was warm all over. He put his head against her chest and felt her steady, comforting heartbeat. And suddenly, everything _was_ fine. _

_He closed his eyes and snuggled closer to her, wanting to be close to her, wanting more of this feeling, whatever it was. _

"_There now, my beautiful Syusuke."_

_He smiled a little and let the darkness come. _

_./._

Yukimura found himself in front of Persona's door.

When he thought about it, this was probably where he should have started looking, but well, he'd been busy panicking to think straight.

He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself and feel reassured that it was _okay_ now, he'd find Syusuke inside, and he'd be sorry for worrying Yukimura, just as he rightfully ought to feel.

Syusuke would be _behind this door, healthy and alive_.

There was no question.

He turned the doorknob and had a little struggle with opening the door (what the hell is wrong with the stupid door?) but finally, he was able to push it open to find the reason why he had a hard time in the first place.

Persona's entire office was covered in frost. _Everything_, up to the smallest corner of the floor.

He let out a ragged breath, his mind going to overdrive, his heart skipping many beats.

Oh god, please no.

Frost only showed when Syusuke entered Death. It was a little after-effect, he imagined Death was a cold place, and more frost was indicative of how dangerously close Syusuke was getting to true death. The last time there had been more than just a few flakes of ice was when Syusuke had found out that his adoptive parents have died and had thrown himself to Death, staying there for almost an entire day. Frost had covered his entire body and had spread to the floor directly around it, he almost hadn't woken up again and when he did, he'd spent the next few months being sick to the core.

But _this much_... The _entire room_... Syusuke couldn't, he couldn't have...

"I asked him to take care of a little thing in Death for me," Persona's voice cut through his tornado of thoughts and he looked up quickly to find him sitting on the edge of his table, looking completely unperturbed, save for the corners of his mouth turned down. "And this happened." Persona gave a slight wave of his hand to indicate the chair in front of him. All Yukimura could see was a hand, shockingly white in pallor, frighteningly still, but it was enough.

Yukimura's heart thudded against his ribs and his blood roared. Syusuke... Syusuke was...

"Is this supposed to happen?"

Yukimura was having trouble breathing, and having even more trouble finding his voice. He gave out a chocked "Yes," and wished it was enough for Persona. He sent a little tendril of shadow creeping towards Syusuke, hoping against hope that it would find a heartbeat.

Persona was looking at him sharply, trying to gauge his reaction before he looked away and stood up from his relaxed posture on the table.

"Very well, then, I'll take your word for it, Yukimura-kun." He walked towards the exit, slowly, taking his time and it took everything in Yukimura to stay where he was.

Persona paused just as he was passing Yukimura, just enough to say, "Keep him alive for me, will you? He's quite useful."

But Yukimura didn't hear it. Not really.

He was busy concentrating on the tendril of shadow he had sent to Syusuke, which was curling against his cousin's limbs, trying to find a sign that Syusuke was okay. A heartbeat, a pulse, anything.

He felt his heart dropping to his stomach, the tendril becoming frantic in its movements.

He couldn't breathe.

Please, god, no. _Not again_.

_Not Syusuke._

No. He took an unsteady step towards his cousin, trying very hard not to cry. Because in his frantic search for a heart beat, a pulse beat, a sign of life...

He found none.

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><p>Clary: Umm.. Review? (Please don't hate me)<p> 


	15. XIII Memoire

Lia: Ideally, Issa will not be showing up today to write her little notes-thing to you guys because I grounded her until she gets her job done. Unfortunately, I am not her mother, and thus, I have no authority whatsoever to ground her, which she had smugly pointed out. So, therefore-

Clary: CLARY (NOT ISSA) IS HERE~~~~~~ You KNOW you can never take me away from my beloved readers, Lia.

Lia: Says the girl who barely writes her stories.

Clary: THAT'S DIFFERENT! But I love all of my AWESOME readers, because they are AWESOME, like me, and we be AWESOME together~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lia: I can keep you away from them as much as I like because you're in MY house, using MY computer and I have every right to refuse you permission until you finish your quilting project.

Clary: I CAN'T SEW, OKAY? I can't sew to save my life, and you know that~~~~~ So back off, I'm not finishing no stupid quilting project~~~~

Lia: Yes you are, or you won't pass high school.

Clary: IT'S JUST HOME EC! Damn it, Lia, I can SO fail Home Ec and get away with it, I mean, the boys in our school fail Home Ec all the time~~~

Lia: Okay, one: last time I checked, you're a GIRL. And, two: Issa, that quilting project you just called stupid is a REQUIREMENT. You can't pass high school unless you turn the thing in.

Clary: But Lia~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I can't sew~~~~

Lia: You can't sew because you have thimbles in every single one of your fingers. Thimbles are for the THUMBS, not all the fingers. Take them all off, and you'd end up doing a decent job.

Clary: But I'd get pricked!

Lia: (sigh) Not if you're careful. My god, Issa. (turns to readers) Since Issa is busy finishing off her quilt, please busy yourselves by enjoying the thirteenth (yes, I can't believe Issa got this far, either) installment of her story.

(:

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Alatarielf (we're glad we made you happy~ and we love Persona, too~~ hope you enjoy this one~), lemon-and-chai (don't you worry, you shall find out soon~), phoenixfirekitsune (maa~ thanks so much~~ Clary wanted to write that scene so much because you just have to love Fuji's family :)), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (we love Yuki too~~ and thanks so much, ne~~~)

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><p><strong>XIII. MEMOIRE<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Yukimura was four years, seven months, and thirteen days old when his parents died (he marked the exact day, up to the last second: two hours, fifty-four minutes and twenty-three seconds). And somehow, for some reason, it didn't affect him. <em>

_All the adults now in charge of him in the Academy worried that he wasn't feeling enough, worried because he was so, so quiet, worried because he never cried. Frankly, Yukimura thought it was funny. What's there to cry about? There was nothing. _

_Just... emptiness._

_He waved off their concerns, fooling them with his easy (fake) smile, and somehow, somewhere along the way, he thought he fooled himself, too, fooled himself into thinking that everything was alright, that everything was okay, that he wasn't empty, that his smiles were real._

_He was _that_ good, he grew up _that_ quickly._

_Cutting off the pain was easy. Forgetting about the fact that he even _had_ a family was easy. Not remembering anything about the past four, almost five (happy) years was easy. Everything was easy._

_He was Yukimura, after all. _

_And he didn't need _anyone_. Not those fussing teachers, not those weak classmates, and certainly not the family that was crass enough to leave him all alone. _

_No one. _

NO ONE_._

_Yukimura was all alone in the world and that was good, because he was strong by himself, he was not weak, he wouldn't ever be weak like his little weakling father and weakling mother who died without even so much as a struggle._

_He won't ever be like them._

_He won't ever remember them. _

_Why would he need weakling parents?_

_They just embarrassed him with their weakness._

_And to think, they were the ones who kept telling him to "Be strong, Seiichi!" What hypocrites. They obviously didn't know what they were talking about when they told him that, because strength was so much more than bleeding on the floor, dying, leaving the only son they ever had without any family, no one, all alone-_

_DAMN THEM!_

_Damn them all to hell. _

_They deserved to rot there. _

_And he was okay – GREAT, even – all by himself._

_And he believed it, even though whenever he told himself that, some voice inside him would scream about how very wrong he was. But after some time, with the ease that he used into transitioning into this new... situation, he was able to squash that voice quiet, too._

_He thought that made him strong._

_And he was able to fool himself nicely for almost over a year, smiling, faking, feeling nothing._

./.

"_Check it out. New kid."_

_Yukimura looked away for one second from where he was staring out the window to assess the 'new kid.' He was marked as a Dangerous Ability Type, too, not that it mattered to Yukimura. _

_He was quite the unassuming kid. Tousled brown hair, hazel eyes, rimless glasses. He would be taller than Yukimura for about at least ten centimeters, but whatever. Strength was so much more than height._

_He looked pampered, loved. And Yukimura instantly disliked "My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu." He didn't care about the name, he didn't care about the face, he didn't care about anything. _

_But as the boy moved by to his little kindergarten table – empty, just like Yukimura's – Yukimura took care to let the shadows ripple, just a little, enough to at least jolt the kid._

_He noticed and turned his hazel gaze to Yukimura. Yukimura met it with equal power, smiling sickeningly-sweet, giving his most honey-filled, "Nice to meet you, Tezuka-san."_

"_Ah."_

_Yukimura narrowed his stare. It was one thing to act all unaffected and passive to Yukimura's alice and it was quite another to respond to him with a one-syllable, passionless "ah"._

_It irked him._

_His smile widened and he looked away, feeling, with every fiber of his being that he had just found a worthy match._

_He hoped Tezuka Kunimitsu will be able to put up a decent fight._

_And Tezuka Kunimitsu did. He turned out to be more than a decent match, actually, brilliant at everything, he breezed through class (and star rankings) with almost as much ease as Yukimura; he even had a formidable alice to boot (as well as a complete, loving family, if all the letters he'd been receiving every mail time was any indication)._

_It made Yukimura somehow bitter, and part of him wanted to remember all those memories he'd squashed, all those memories of the times when he had been genuinely happy, so he wouldn't feel so jealous. (But mostly, Yukimura just wanted to break him.)_

_It wasn't very long until Yukimura found the means to his end._

_Because it turned out that Tezuka Kunimitsu had a beloved little brother._

_Shadows talk a lot, and they were certainly very useful in times like these, when he wanted information, they never failed him before, they didn't fail him now, and it won't be very long now, it won't be very long, indeed, Yukimura was going to snuff out all of Tezuka's irritating brilliance, irritating contentment, irritating happiness, and Tezuka will be broken._

_Just like the way Yukimura was._

./.

_The brother, a little thing of a Dangerous Type, was all alone. And he supposed he couldn't have expected anything else, considering how Dangerous Types were avoided like plague in the Academy. _Everyone_ was afraid of Dangerous Types, even teachers, and no matter how young they are, Dangerous Types tended to be left well-alone._

_That's how Yukimura found him, Tezuka Syusuke, alone in the playground, trying to play in the swings during what should have been something like nap time. Four years old, legs barely hitting the ground, futilely attempting to swing himself upwards, too stubborn to give up._

_And for the first time in a year, his heart felt something other than emptiness (which he ignored)._

_He sat down on the only other swing left, and opened his mouth to get the kid to raise his head and look at him. Only he didn't need to._

_Because Tezuka Syusuke turned to him and gave him a wide, brilliant, close-eyed smile, so full of happiness and acceptance, he was taken aback. His head reeled, his heart pounded and the little voice he thought he'd silenced screamed something so loud, it was incoherent._

_He spent the next few hours staring at Tezuka Syusuke like an idiot._

_And it happened every single day._

_He would sit beside Tezuka's little brother (who would still be futilely trying to swing himself upwards with his little legs) and Tezuka's little brother would smile at him like... like... _that way_... and he'd feel something he couldn't understand and would just _sit_ there like a damn statue until Tezuka Syusuke was called back inside his kindergarten room._

_Yukimura liked it._

_And he hated that he liked it._

_Because he promised himself no more feelings like these. Feelings like these only made you weak. Feelings like these only made you... what his parents had become. Feelings like these would kill you in the end._

_And Yukimura was strong, Yukimura was not like his parents, Yukimura was not going to die like that._

_So one day he forced himself to ask, "Why?" He narrowed his eyes and repeated: "Why? Why do you smile like that?"_

_Tezuka Syusuke did not hesitate at the answer. "Because you sat beside me."_

_And it was so fucking simple, so fucking innocent, Yukimura wanted to cry (and for some strange, weird reason, Yukimura wanted to reach out and hug him, too)._

_From that day onwards, Yukimura looked forward to that peaceful moment, that peaceful hour, that peaceful time with Tezuka Syusuke, when the hole in his heart would fill up somewhat and he wouldn't feel so, so empty. He'd just sit there quietly next to Tezuka Syusuke, feeling his acceptance and simple happiness, trying to make himself believe that he was just as happy._

_From that day onwards, too, Tezuka Syusuke would always be there, bringing little somethings for him, chocolate, candy, cookies, always ready with a little story that would sometimes make Yukimura laugh the way he did when his parents were still alive. _

_From that day onwards, they became friends._

./.

_During the second anniversary of his parent's death, he trudged to the usual playground eager to have the warmth of Tezuka Syusuke's little smile._

_And Syusuke _did_ start to smile, but after taking one look at Yukimura's face, his smile died out like a candle and was promptly replaced by a cute frown._

"_Something's wrong today," he said pensively._

_Yukimura blinked, taking a mental check of his countenance. He was smiling like usual, his stance was at ease, like usual, he was relaxed like usual. So what was wrong?_

"_Nothing's wrong today," Yukimura declared firmly, seating himself beside Tezuka Syusuke once more._

_Tezuka Syusuke dropped his head down and hummed, remaining quiet for the first time in a long time._

_Just as Yukimura was about to prompt him into speaking about something again, the kid hopped out of his swing and walked up to Yukimura, small and slight and short but determined. He reached out his little hands to grasp Yukimura's own and even though he could have pulled away if he wanted to, Yukimura didn't. Instead, he closed his eyes and relished the feeling._

"_I... I know that you don't know me very much," Tezuka Syusuke was saying. "We just sit beside each other and... I don't even know your name... But, but if there's something that's making you feel bad, you can tell me. I'll listen."_

_Yukimura gasped at the strength of the voice inside him, telling him to go ahead and talk, go ahead and share, he could _trust_ this Tezuka Syusuke._

_But his mind wouldn't let him. And his mind, as always, won the battle._

"_No, it's okay," he replied. "I can handle it on my own." He untangled his hands from the child's hold and patted them. _

"_Please?"_

"_I'm strong enough for these kinds of things, okay?"_

"_I.. Can I tell you what I think?"_

_Yukimura looked up from where he was staring at their hands and watch Tezuka Syusuke turn his head away, biting his lip nervously. He almost smiled. "Go ahead," he urged._

_Tezuka's kid brother turned to him and opened his eyes for the first time. "I think you're lonely."_

_And the blue of Tezuka Syusuke's eyes were so compassionate, so full of worry, so full of sadness for _him_, a stranger whose name Tezuka Syusuke didn't even know, they suddenly made Yukimura so, so, so unbelievably full of grief. All the walls, all the shields, all the dams he'd made started to crumble away until there was nothing left._

_And there, in the arms of a child so much younger but so much wiser than him, two years after his parents' deaths, Yukimura let himself cry for the first time._

_Because Syusuke was all he needed after all. All he needed was someone, _anyone_ to be there, to hug him, to hold him while he cried, to give him soft, soothing words, to give him a comforting presence. He had been afraid before that there would be no one like that, no one good enough, so he sealed away all his emotions so he wouldn't have to need anyone._

_But he did._

_And Yukimura felt so much relief._

_Sometime later, when Yukimura had stopped crying, Syusuke peered up at him through thick lashes, his blue eyes stangely familiar and sparkling. "Ne, you know... I'm lonely, too, sometimes." He grinned. "But see, if we have each other, we won't ever be lonely, ne? You'll see. I'll even let you meet my onii-sama. He's really smart and I know he'll like you, too. And then we could-"_

"_Yukimura," he interrupted, smiling at Tezuka Syusuke, petting his head warmly and smiling genuinely. _

"_Yu.. Yukimura?"_

_Yukimura's smile widened. "My name. It's Yukimura Seiichi."_

"_Yukimura-san," Syusuke tried and giggled to himself. "Nice to meet you, Yukimura-san."_

_Yukimura shook his head and laughed. "Call me Seiichi."_

"_Seii.. chi. Seiichi"_

"_And I'll call you Syusuke."_

_Syusuke's beautiful blue familiar eyes lit up, brightening his entire countenance. "Okay!"_

./.

_Not much later, Yukimura realized who Syusuke really was. Not much later, he formally introduced himself to Tezuka. Not much later, disturbed by how Syusuke called Tezuka a name that he wasn't deserving of, Yukimura convinced Syusuke to call his so-called brother Ku-nii. Not much later, it became nii-san, which he tolerated. Not much later, he promised himself that he will be strong for Syusuke. Because he loved the only family he had left._

_For true strength came from feelings like these. True strength stemmed from the desire that stemmed from love. Through Syusuke, Yukimura would be strong._

_That's how it always was and ever will be._

_(Little did he know, he was wrong about that, too.)_

./.

The first thing that he should have noticed (and that should have alerted him that things weren't going exactly as planned) was that the nearer they got to the First Gate, the noisier his Army became. But it was such a little detail (considering his little inner celebration), and the dead were a noisy bunch anyway, he chose to ignore it.

The second thing he should have noticed (and that should have alerted him that things weren't going exactly as planned) was that the closer they got to the First Gate, the more reluctant his Army became. Some dragged their feet, some got slower, some stopped altogether. But the dead were usually like that – slow, dragging, reluctant to get to life, and he was still too busy feeling _victory_, he ignored that, too.

The last fucking thing he should have noticed (and that should have fucking alerted him that things weren't going exactly as fucking planned) were the silver tendrils glowing brightly all over the First Gate. But, _damn it!_, he had been careless and much too happy and arrogant, he wasn't even able to see the damn markings until he walked right up to the First Gate opening and found that he couldn't get through.

"_Non erit transiens,_" Morto pronounced somewhere about a few feet behind him, sounding extremely amused (what the _fuck_ was there to be amused about?). "_None shall pass_. _A strong ward, to be sure, Lord Ashikaga, made by an almost-omnipotent presence in Death._"

His Army screeched their agreement from even farther away from where Morto was and he felt like screaming.

"_Even I cannot do anything about this_." And almost as proof, just as Morto's black tendrils creeped closer than where he was currently located, the silver tendrils flared brightly (brighter than the barrier holding Morto ever did) and engulfed the tendril in their furious hot light.

_Persona_ did this? Which kid did he fucking use to _do _this?

He had no one, _no one_, who could fight against _him_, he made sure of it, _he made so sure of it_, he killed three of the Academy's most powerful clans!

He killed the _Clan of Death_!

Persona couldn't have done this, unless he found a fucking way to fucking _resurrect_ the fucking dead (which he _can't_, last time he checked, all Persona was good for was _sending_ people to death, certainly not _resurrecting_ them, _damn it_).

But somehow... this...

"_This is the work of a Fuji._"

What?

But all the Fujis were _dead_!

"It's not," he said fiercely. "I killed them _all_ myself. _Everyone_."

"_But I cannot be mistaken, my Lord. The feel of the ward is distinctly Fuji._"

"You _are_ mistaken. All the Fujis are _dead_ by my _own_ hands! Do you _doubt _me?"

"_I do not. But I am not mistaken either. This ward was created by a Fuji. A young one, but quite powerful._"

He felt like killing something. But he forced himself to calm down, _calm the fuck down_, and think.

What did he miss?

The Fuji head and his family were dead. The Yukimura head and his family were dead. The Tezuka head and his family were dead. Killed by _him_.

But, if he was to believe Morto, someone, a _Fuji_ (with an almost-omnipotent presence in Death), survived.

Who and how?

Elimination, he'll figure it out using elimination (_calm, that's right_).

It had to be a Fuji stemming directly from the head, omnipotent presences in Death (and powerful ones) don't exactly come by to the diluted bloodlines. Okay.. The Fuji head's family included his wife, Fuji Yoshiko (dead, he'd slit her throat himself), his beloved little daughter, Fuji Yumiko (also dead, stabbed in the heart, if he remembered correctly), his beloved little son, Fuji Syusuke (dead, as was expected, considering how he was in his mother's womb when he killed the mother) and his beloved little son, Fuji Yuuta (dead, as was expected, considering how he was in his mother's womb wh...)

Wait a moment.

Fuji Syusuke and Fuji Yuuta weren't twins, were they? No, they weren't. Fuji Syusuke was _supposed_ to be a year older than the unborn Fuji Yuuta and he...

_Fuck_. He couldn't recall a single fucking time he'd killed a baby.

He clenched his fists. So _that's_ who Persona had up his sleeve. The 'young but powerful' Fuji Syusuke.

Damn it (_if he hadn't been so fucking careless_...).

He took a deep breath (_calm, calm_). That could be easily fixed. _Easily fixed_.

That's right.

All he had to do was kill the scion of the Fuji clan, and he'd be free to do whatever he wanted to again.

And that would be easy. He had Hinako, Murakami and Chizuru, all immortals, all powerful. And considering how he was the last Fuji in the world, the young Syusuke was bound to be untrained and unknowing of his true potential in Death.

Easy.

He'll just have to sanction Fuji Syusuke's death.

./.

Syusuke had filled the hole in Yukimura's heart. But now that he was gone, all Yukimura could feel was the widening of the gap, becoming so impossibly large, it threatened to consume his entire heart.

He can't... he just _can't_ live without Syusuke. Not... not after everything... not after...

He cradled Syusuke's cold body and dropped his head to Syusuke's chest, listening to the silence that his tears could never fill.

It wasn't fair!

Syusuke... Syusuke had been so alive, so vibrant, so full of life. Syusuke promised, _they_ promised that they won't let each other be alone anymore. Syusuke just couldn't be...

Yukimura gasped, feeling his breath coming short, and he pressed his head impossibly closer to Syusuke's chest.

Was that...?

Was that a heartbeat he just felt just now?

...

And Yukimura found himself crying again.

A heartbeat! Very faint, very weak but there. It was there! Syusuke... Syusuke was...

He tightened his hug and cried tears of relief.

./.

Tezuka didn't know just how many times he has to come close to losing Syusuke before he found the courage to just up and admit how much he loved him. It was stupid, he knew, but he was raised to be prideful and prideful people just didn't... well, _do those things._

But Syusuke never hesitated. And Syusuke always loved him, always smiled for him, always was everything Tezuka could ever ask for. And he knew it didn't deserve it, but Syusuke loved _him_, he didn't know _how_, but somehow he did.

He thought of all the cranes Syusuke had carefully folded and given him, one every year, always with a smile and a little 'I love you.'

"_Nii-san__, they say if you make a thousand cranes, you'd be granted a wish!"_

His only wish right now, sitting by Syusuke's bed in the lonely infirmary... was that Syusuke would wake up. Because sitting here like this, holding a cold, unmoving hand, hearing Syusuke's labored gasps for breath only made him worry more, only made him think that Syusuke was going to die anyway.

And he couldn't bear it, if it happened.

Because his heart belonged to Syusuke. No one else could ever compete.

Syusuke let out a small whimper and Tezuka tightened his hand, willing Syusuke to feel it, willing Syusuke to know that he was here, just like he always was, just like he always ever will be.

He brought the cold hand up to his lips and kissed it murmuring 'I love you' against the skin of his not-brother, maybe-lover, always-beloved.

And Syusuke slowly blinked awake, almost as if responding to his whispered confession.

Syusuke let out a soft shaky breath before turning his head to him, all blue-eyes and fake-smiles that pulled at Tezuka's heart.

Because seeing Syusuke like this suddenly made it all too painfully clear to Tezuka just how close, _how close_, he had been to losing him. How, if Syusuke hadn't been strong enough, he wouldn't be staring at brilliant blue eyes so beautiful they drowned him. How, if Yukimura hadn't found him at that time, Syusuke wouldn't be fake-smiling, trying to worm his way out of Tezuka's worry when it was so painfully obvious that he was hurting and unhappy.

And facing the almost-loss, with Syusuke.. with _Syusuke_... almost...

Something in Tezuka snapped, and he found himself damning the consequences, _let them come, let them be happy for once_. He reached out, cupped Syusuke's delicate face and slammed their lips together.

He wanted this. He wanted this so, so bad and he had come very, very close to not having the chance to do this anymore. He wasn't going to be some coward, held back by stupid pride. He was going to fight for Syusuke, he was going to fight for what he wanted, for the only person that would ever matter in his life.

And Syusuke was so damn responsive, it fueled Tezuka's decision even more. Syusuke was kissing him back, clinging to him and he tighted his hold on his beloved, trying to get him as close as possibe, so close, so that then, nothing can take him away, not even death.

They could all try.

And they were all going to fail.

Tezuka was not going to lose Syusuke.

Not now, not ever.

./.

They broke away for air, and despite the dizzy ring in Syusuke's head, he was in heaven.

Nii-san... Nii-san had never... Well, he _did_, but not like _this_, not this passionate, not this intense. And, god, Syusuke loved it. He knew he'd be hurting himself in the end, because, well, they really just couldn't ever be together. But this... Just knowing that he could pretend for a while, for just a few hours that everyday of his life would be like this, that he had every right to stay in his brother's arms, that he had a chance of his brother ever becoming truly his... It was enough.

Because pretending and having something to hold on to when he was all alone someday was so much better than not even trying and having nothing.

Even though it hurt like hell afterwards.

He looked up to his brother, wanting to cry, but feeling his heart thundering as he saw the desire and the passion darkening his brother's usual hazel orbs and he knew he could do this. He could bask in the short-lived happiness this offered and afterwards, he'd cling to these memories he would forever cherish.

He would take the happiness whenever he could. Even if it was just this once.

So he raised himself up to meet his lips with his brother's again, moaning when his nii-san kissed fiercely back, feeling everywhere he and his nii-san touched. He was in his little circle of passion and happiness, where there was no one else, where there was no other factors, just him and his Kunimitsu, just them and the love they both had for each other.

And when Kunimitsu lay him back down on the bed, Syusuke didn't think of how he'd be regretting this later on, or just how much it would hurt him to pull away once it was all over. For now, this was what he wanted and he was going to take it.

Kunimitsu's hands, his mouth, his body, his _everything_ was like molten magma, burning slowly where it touched Syusuke's skin, deliciously hot, decidedly pleasurable. Somehow, Kunimitsu knew just the right places to touch, just the right places to kiss, just the right time to pull away and start undoing all the buttons. Or maybe, maybe he didn't but Syusuke enjoyed it anyway, because it was Kunimitsu with him. He didn't know, he didn't care.

Kunimitsu was everything right now. There was nothing else.

And Kunimitsu was being so painfully perfect, so perfectly everything, drawing his shirt away, making Syusuke gasp at his tiny little kisses that...

A knock on the door startled him out of his passion-induced circle.

Kunimitsu's only response was to give a somehow fierce growl, holding onto him tighter, kissing him once again, making him forget, and he felt himself start to return to his little world that began and ended where he and Kunimitsu began and ended...

Another knock, louder and more insistent, this time, but still generally ignored.

"Syusuke! Syusuke, are you okay?"

He startled out of his little world with another gasp once again.

He knew that voice.

That was Meiko's voice.

_Meiko_.

He feebly pushed his brother away, heaving heavy breaths, feeling flushed and hot, his head falling out of the clouds.

He risked a glance at his brother, also flushed, glasses askew (strange that he didn't notice that when they were kissing), eyes still dark with desire and looked away.

"Syusuke.."

"No, I..." Syusuke shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"Syusuke." His nii-san's voice was firm and more than a little angry. "Look at me."

"No." _I can't. I can't look at you and see all that your eyes promise me to, because it will be so hard to pull away. _

_I can't. _

_I love you too much._

Nii-san sighed and reached out a hand across the space between them that hadn't existed just a few moment before. Syusuke tensed, but all his brother did was close all the buttons that had been opened and fix his shirt. Then, he retracted his hands, fixed himself, too, and raked a hand through his tousled hair.

Syusuke watched as his brother walked towards the open windows of the infirmary with slow, measured steps. Nii-san looked back at him and Syusuke averted his gaze.

"There was nothing wrong with what we did, Syusuke. Nothing at all."

And his nii-san left, leaving him behind, confused and hurt.

./.

Meiko was... hysterical, to say the least.

She flew inside the infirmary when she was given permission and hugged Syusuke so tight, he almost fainted. But she was a bundle of overjoyed nerves, beaming happily, telling him just how happy she was that he was alive and well and everything, even though it was only... yesterday? a few hours ago? that he broke her heart.

She was just... genuinely glad he was alive and well, and not once did she say anything that was remotely near... what had happened on the rooftop.

"I know you don't love me."

...Or perhaps he had thought too soon.

He looked back at Meiko and found her eyes solemn and firm (somehow, _somehow_, it reminded him of the nii-san he could never have). "I know... you don't love me, Syusuke."

What could he say? It was the truth, Meiko had told the truth, what more was there to say?

"But I also know you're hurting."

She paused and smiled, holding up a hand to stop his protest (which would have been feeble, at best). "You can't hide it, Syusuke," she continued, reaching out a hand and cupping his face. "Your smile... doesn't reach your eyes."

"I'm sorry." What else could he say?

"Don't be.." She smiled again, obviously forced, just like the way Syusuke's smile was. "I know this might sound.. I don't know.. desperate to you, but... Hell... I.. I guess, what I'm saying is, will... Will you go out with me?"

Syusuke's eyes widened to unbelievable proportions. Did Meiko just say what he thought she just said?

Meiko raised her hands in alarm at his expression. "Hey! Wait! Don't go off thinking... Syusuke!" She averted her gazed and blushed.

"Meiko, what.."

"It's just.. I don't know. I thought..." A sigh. "I don't know what I thought, really. Maybe I was just being selfish and I wanted to be happy. But I thought.. Maybe.. Maybe I could help you forget and be happy, too. Maybe.. we could be happy... together." She hugged herself and looked away. "And maybe... maybe you'll even end up.. loving... me."

The last part was a whisper.

And Syusuke felt a little pull at his heart, watching her like that. He still didn't love her and he knew he never could but...

If it made her happy...

Then, at the very least, he was able to make a difference in someone's life.

He touched her arm, and smiled as she turned to look at him. "Thank you, Meiko.

"I'd love to."

* * *

><p>Clary: I personally think that this is the longest chapter ever that I've written so far, it's so fucking long, I was just like ohmyholy did I totally write this?<p>

Lia: Actually, the first part in italics were meant to be another sidestory.

Clary: But we thought, since it fit in with the main storyline and crap... Well, we figured, why the hell not just put it in the chapter? So yeah~ Memoire is French for memory, by the way~ (I LOVE YOU, LIA, AND YOUR AWESOME IDEAS)

Lia: Sure, if you say so Issa.

Clary: But anyway, I'M SO SORRY guys for being such a bad author and making you guys wait all the time~~~ I swear, we have this break at the end of October and THEN, I'll write like crazy, and I'll update EVERYDAY, if I have to, so I could make it up to you~ Whatcha guys think?

Lia: - had totally no idea this was going to happen (sarcasm... This was all she's been talking about since the beginning of the week. I'm a little proud of her, actually)

Clary: LIA DID NOT BRIBE ME, OKAY, I'M DOING THIS OF MY OWN FREE WILL AND BECAUSE I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH~~~~~~ (and also maybe partly a little because Lia promised to teach me how to swear in French.. BUT THAT'S NOT THE MAIN REASON AT ALL)

Lia: I take my job seriously, thank you very much.

Clary: :) Reviews are very much appreciated, ne~ And tell me what you guys think about my awesome game plan~ Who knows, I might even finish this story by the end of October (haha!)~ So give me some inspiration by reviewing, kay? :)


	16. XIV Between Two Deaths

Clary: Okay, so I KNOW I promised to do updates during the past month and didn't, and I'M SORRY, I really am, but I had a very good reason that even Lia agrees with, HONEST!

Lia: She's actually telling the truth this time.

Clary: Yeah, see, we were supposed to have the break and everything but OUR EXAMS WERE MOVED to the fucking last week of October and crap it, I was on house arrest and (tears hair out in frustration)

Lia: So we ended up having the break moved, too..

Clary: Damn school, it ruins all my perfect plans~~~~~~ Dangdangdangdangdang. I hate it so much, it should totally fall over and DIE.

Lia: Issa, really. This again?

Clary: I DIDN'T FINISH my Advanced Algebra test, okay? And if that's not bad enough, I DIDN'T FINISH my Calculus test, either, so eff everyone, I will have a crappy Math grade, so there.

Lia: NO ONE finished the Advanced Algebra test, Issa, calm down.

Clary: Did YOU finish it?

Lia: No.

Clary: Did you finish the Calculus test?

Lia: (sigh) Yes.

Clary: ... Fuck you, Lia.

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (Clary's not-editor), Alatarielf (:) we're glad you were surprised, ne? Hope you like this one~), lemon-and-chai (we can't believe it took him 13 chapters, either, we planned it for earlier, but... yeah :)), phoenixfirekitsune (haha~ that's actually a very funny story...), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (oh, stay tuned, ne? You are a strong person :)), Quixling (arigato~ it's not a crossover because none of the actual characters from Alice Academy, except Persona, are in the story, so we figured it shouldn't :))

* * *

><p><strong>XIV. BETWEEN TWO DEATHS<strong>

* * *

><p>She used to have dreams and fantasies about happily ever after. She used to have dreams about how someday, some prince from some country that had a grand, pink, sparkly palace would pick her up in his great, handsome white horse and they'd spend the rest of their lives eating candies and chocolates and not thinking about anything (certainly not about death) but each other.<p>

That was pretty shallow, she knew, but she was a kid, and that was all she was aware of before.

It was okay to dream, it was always okay, because she knew that was something she would never have in life, born the way she was, with the responsibilities that came with it. But it was totally okay to hope and wish for things that would never come true.

She'd always liked fairy tales.

She'd always thought they were like life-guides and she believed so badly that if she dreamed and hoped and wished hard enough, no matter how bleak her reality was, she'd get her little happily ever after in the end.

Fairy tales were fucking lies, told to children so they wouldn't be afraid to grow up. (Too bad she realized that only when she was lying on the floor, dying.)

And happily ever after never existed, she couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to believe in those little child-fantasy-happily-ever-after nonsense.

_Hans Christian Anderson, you fucking liar. _

Even now, when she had wished so desperately for someone, _him_, to get _his_ happily ever after, it seemed... it wasn't possible, either. At least, not anymore.

There won't ever be happily ever afters.

Just like how she didn't have her happily ever after, he wouldn't have _his_ happily ever after, either.

Black shadows where starting to creep towards her again, and she sighed, knowing what was coming. This only ever happened once before, it was happening again this time, and it will happen again a third time. After that, no more. That was how it worked in Death, that was how it decided to work with _him_.

... And the Fuji clan thought they knew so much about Death.

They were right about many things, about the Gates, about the rivers, about binding. But they didn't know about _this_ place, the place between the fields of eternal rest and the Ninth Gate. The place where the dead wanting to stay and watch over life would choose to linger. They didn't know about _this_, of course they won't, there was no one who could've told them. No one alive, anyway.

It was such a very long time ago when she had chosen to linger.

The shadows were forming a solid mass now, first hair, then the face, then the body. Nothing changed about him much. He grew, that's all. But then again, in Death, things like that never really mattered.

"You again," he said, mildly surprised, but more resigned than anything.

She turned and walked away, knowing he would follow. "Would you rather it was someone else?"

There was a short pause, before he responded: "Probably not."

_Of __course __not_, she supplied in her head, waiting for him to fill the silence, like she knew he would.

"Would you tell me how I got here now? This makes the second time."

She gave him a small smile. "You desired to come here." She held up her hand when he started to open his mouth. "Unconcious knowledge exists in your blood, as in ours. It is such unconcious knowledge that led you here."

He was smart, she knew that, and he nodded quickly, not quite understanding, but saving the memory for perusal later. Her lips quirked up even more.

She saw his eyes narrow in suspicion. "Why are _you_ here?"

"That's not the question you should be asking." She turned and walked away again, her steps slow and sure, following a memorized path in the blankness that surrounded them. "Ask what you desired to come here for, not more."

He sighed, and from the corner of her eye, she saw his anguish as he ran his hands through his hair. She felt more than a little sorry for him, actually, and for _him_, the person they both loved and she wished she could do _something_ to help them. But this was all that she could do.

_For __now_.

"Today, again. He almost... again."

"I know."

"Did you see it?"

Yes, she did. Always. She watched over them like a hawk, never did she let anyone out of her sight, not for one second. She wanted them to be living the happily ever after she never had, but... happily ever afters were far-fetched dreams.

"Never mind, don't answer that," he sighed. "Is he going to... again.. after.. after this?"

...Love always made you vulnerable. She looked up at the blankness and contemplated whether or not she should answer.

"You know, don't you? Answer the question."

She turned to him sharply, a rebuke on her lips that died out when she saw the tears that rimmed his eyes. She took a deep breath, reached over and enveloped him in a hug she only ever gave to one other person.

"You're cold," he informed her quietly, trying to act like tears were not falling from his eyes.

"Silly boy," she said, patting his head amicably. "The dead are nothing but cold."

"Of course," he replied, eyes far away.

She knew what he was thinking, and she could help but agree with his conflicting little thoughts. But she said nothing.

"Is he going to...?" he asked again, desperate for an answer, a hope she couldn't give.

"There are things that the living are not supposed to know."

"I don't care, I want to know."

"No, he won't. Not anymore," she finally said after a long moment of silence.

It was an blantant lie, she knew it, and he subconciously knew it. But there were times when you have to lie to yourself, even when the truth was staring right at your face.

He smiled at her and said thank you, relaxing in her hold. "I'm glad."

She understood his desperation, she understood that he needed the lie right now, she understood that he refused to acknowledge the fact that she was very well lying to him. So she gave him a little mercy and did what she did best at, she said nothing.

"Your time's up, leave now."

He pulled away, smiling again, though she saw a tiny bit of the future of that smile. And a tiny bit of his broken heart.

"Goodbye," he said, engulfed by his shadows, leaving her alone once again.

"Goodbye," she whispered back to the empty air. "Goodbye, Yukimura-kun."

She turned abrubtly and ran up to the path she never dared to tread.

She had something she must do.

./.

He made it feel so good. Or his alice did. Whatever it was, or whoever it was, it made it feel quite fulfilling, standing against a wall, just standing, thinking of nothing, trying to stay as put as possible, trying to be quiet and not-disturbing.

It felt so damn good.

She didn't tire, she didn't want for anything, which was weird, though strangely not at the same time. Well, whatever.

It felt good, that was what mattered.

It's been such a long time since anything (other than chopping people up to a million pieces and picking up wonderful kimonos and styling her hair and wearing her old geisha ornaments) felt so good to her.

Bah.

As long as it felt...

_Chizuru_..

Huh. That was a first. It's been so long since she last heard her name. What was it again? Chizuru... Something. M-something. Wow. Does standing for too long _erase_ your memory? Damn, she shouldn't be standing, then. No, wait, she should. He wanted her to, and it still felt damn good.

It was starting to get uncomfortable, though.

_Chizuru_..

Right, Chizuru. Chizuru.. God, she really can't remember. Fuck. Was she actually _getting_ old? She was an immortal, fuck, she shouldn't be getting old and forgetting things (_her __name!_) and (_GOD __FORBID_) getting wrinkles. Ew.

Geisha are meant to be beautiful, not wrinkle-laden, forgetful old ladies, what the hell are her customers going to think? Oh, god, is she going to start to _smell_, too? Will she start smelling like rotting _fish_, like those lousy fishermen's wives in that whatever backwater town that her rich baron once brought her to?

Holy hell...

_Chizuru_..

Now _that_ was getting to be really annoying. God, damn it, could that voice just stop talking? She _knew_ her name was Chizuru, okay? She couldn't remember what the other name was and she probably still couldn't if all the stupid voice is keen on saying is-

_Chizuru_..

See? There. _THAT_ is _NOT_ helping _AT __ALL_. Why can't it shut up?

...

_Chizuru_...

Damn it, she must be going crazy. Well, at least it was a good kind of crazy. The voice sounded just like Ashikaga-san's warm, rich, deep voice, so silky and caressing.

She gave a soft sigh. Oh, it felt so nice, Ashikaga-san's deep, rich voice. Ashikaga-san's voice.

_Ashikaga-san_.

Fuck.

Ashikaga-san? Was he _calling _her?

A picture suddenly surfaced in her mind. Hmmmm... Pretty boy. Delicious to look at. He might even make a good geisha, considering his looks. He'd probably even get a lot of customers. She could be his big sister, and he could be her little brother, and...

Huh.

Figures. Such a waste.

And he was so beautiful, too.

Too bad he was fighting on the wrong side. He could have been a good distraction and a good source of amusement, too.

Maybe even a good lover. (She knew a beautiful thing when she sees one, she was a beautiful thing herself.. Well, unless she got wrinkles.)

_Kill_.

And that was that. All of a sudden, the instincts came back, her mind dropped down from whatever mind-blowing high it was in, and suddenly, she felt cramped, sweaty and increasingly annoyed.

She couldn't _fucking_ feel her legs, what the hell? Where was she?

She felt more than saw Ashikaga-san's smirk and the _things_ keeping her in place fell away with a satisfying jerk.

She sniffed and felt the air around her. The fuck? What was she doing in the Academy? The last thing that happened was that she was fighting with one of Persona's brats...

Fuck, she was going to _kill_ them. She was going to kill them and stab them over and over and over until she was satisfied. Nobody, _nobody_ made a fool out of Maihara Chizuru (ha, she remembered, she was not growing senile, after all!) and got away with it.

Still, she had to commend their bravery, facing her like that, humiliating her like this and knowing the consequences. Or maybe, that was actually stupidity on their part.

Huh.

Well, whatever. She had a job to do for Ashikaga-sama at any rate.

She didn't know who that kid was, but whoever he was, he was dead.

And then, after that, she'd do the same to that _brat_, and _then_, let's see who'll have the last fucking laugh.

./.

_The day Tezuka found out about his little brother's alice was the day he actually (really) first killed somebody._

_Or __some_thing_._

_Syusuke had a cute blue bird, a gift for his birthday, that Syusuke had loved more than anything, at three. He coddled it, and made sure to always have food in its cage and would eagerly watch with wide, bright blue eyes as it bathed itself in the birdbath they had especially purchased for Syusuke's blue bird, which he had named Tsubame. _

_(It wasn't a swallow, of course, it was too small to be one, but Syusuke was three and stubborn so if he wanted to call it Tsubame, then, by god, it's name was Tsubame, regardless of the fact that it wasn't anything near swallow-like at all.)_

_That day, a cat had slinked its way into their neighborhood, and Tezuka noticed it quickly. It was actually hard not to, considering how... ruffled the cat looked, and how it slinked around hungrily, its eyes narrowed into green slits. It did not belong in their neighborhood at all. _

_Tezuka noticed, but Tezuka did not pay attention._

_His mistake._

_In __fact, __the __only __time __Tezuka _did _pay __attention __was __the __time __when __it __was __almost __too __late, __and __the __cat __was __slinking __its __way __into __their __house, __towards __Tsubame__'__s __bird__cage, __eyeing __the __bird __hungrily._

_Tezuka had been the only one around, the only one near enough to notice. And in his mind, all he could see was Syusuke's bright, happy countenance when he received the bird and proudly claimed it to be Tsubame, and all he could think of was how devastated his little brother was going to be when he found out that his cute little beloved Tsubame had died._

_...Tezuka wasn't about to let it happen. So he did the only thing he could have done, at that situation._

Pain.

_Tezuka had gotten his alice fairly young, and because they weren't summoned to the Academy yet, he got training from his Father and Grandfather sometimes. He'd gotten really, really good at using it, too, commanding pain and bending it to his will. Unfortunately, his control was... not so good. He was working on it, and he was fairly sure that, with practice, he'd get better, but at that time, at four years old, his control, more often than not, slipped._

_As a result, welts materialized themselves physically on the cat, and one moment it was hissing and yowling at the wounds, the next it just stopped._

_There was no question in Tezuka's mind that the cat was dead._

_And just like any normal four-year-old, when faced by the sudden fact of death, he stumbled back physically, unable to think, unable to wrap his mind around the fact that the cat lying dead right there in their backyard was killed by _him_._

"_Onii-sama?" _

_He whirled around to see his brother in his favorite white yukata, holding Tsubame's usual small bowl of birdfood, portioned carefully by their mother. Syusuke was smiling up at him expectantly. _

"_Did Tsubame say hi?"_

_...Right. He forgot about that. Stubborn three-year-old Syusuke was not only convinced that his bird was a swallow, apparently, it talked, too. Their mother thought it was adorable and didn't have the heart to tell Syusuke _again_ that birds don't talk, sweetie. She even went so far as to glare and threaten off all the boys in the household (yes, including Grandfather) to try to contradict her little, cute, adorable sweetheart whenever he told some story or another about how Tsubame told him this and that._

"_I..." He saw the cat at the corner of his eye. "No."_

_"Oh." For a moment, his brother's face fell and Tezuka wondered if his mother was going to blame him for _this_ disappointment, not that he wasn't in trouble already. He _killed _a cat._

_But Syusuke grinned again. "Oh, well, Tsubame's just shy." Still with the smile, Syusuke moved around him towards a place where the dead cat would be in his line of sight._

_He felt more than saw Syusuke freeze. _

"_Onii-sama? A ...cat?"_

_He opened his mouth and closed it again, not knowing what to say. _

"_It's cute! But it's not... moving. Is it hurt?"_

_Swishing of cloth and Tezuka turned around just in time to see his brother bending over to touch the cat._

"_Syusuke, don't.."_

_But the words died in his lips, because Syusuke was falling, falling, then catching himself in the last second. The same second when, the obviously dead cat let out a loud meow, hissed and pawed away._

_Syusuke turned back to grin at him and suddenly, Tezuka just _knew_ what Syusuke just did... _that_ was Syusuke's alice._

_Their mother would be so proud._

_That night, when Syusuke, once again, snuggled to bed beside him despite having his own room, he said thank you._

"_Well, that kitty was cute," his brother mumbled sleepily beside him._

_Tezuka resisted the urge to smile. And failed. "Should we tell Mother? She would be so happy you got her alice."_

_That jolted his brother into wakefulness. "Really?" Syusuke pushed himself up to cover his hazy gaze with wide eager eyes. "Really, really?"_

"_Yes, really." Tezuka patted Syusuke's head before fixing him with a serious stare and telling him to go to sleep already._

_And just when Tezuka thought he was asleep, Syusuke mumbled sleepily once again, "I'm so happy. I'm so happy Mommy could also enter Death. I thought... it was weird."_

_Needless to say, Tezuka did not sleep that night._

_./._

When Yukimura entered Syusuke's room, Kisaragi-chan was gone and Tezuka came in with him. Despite himself (and because Syusuke was sleeping and not there to see it), he scowled and wanted to block Tezuka's entrance to the room.

But Tezuka pretended not to notice, and strolled in anyway, sitting by Syusuke's bed, knowing he was obviously not welcome (well, in Yukimura's mind he wasn't).

He would've been if Syusuke hadn't almost died, or if Tezuka hadn't been brazen enough to almost-rape Syusuke (no, in Yukimura's mind, there was absolutely _no__way_ that it had been Syusuke's idea, no _fucking_ way) twice (_twice!_).

But it all happened and Tezuka, for the life of him, could not take anything back, because no, he didn't have the power to do that, and if he had a hard time getting the 'I-don't-like-you' vibe from Yukimura, then Yukimura was going to help him get it.

"You're a bastard," he said calmly and softly, with a nice sweet smile he especially reserved for bastards (and brats like Atobe Keigo). "You know that right?"

"I'm aware." Tezuka turned to him with a gaze so, so full of self-loathing that for one moment, Yukimura almost pitied him. And then Yukimura remembered everything that happened and he hated Tezuka all over again.

It was not in Yukimura's nature to pity bastards.

"You're a bastard and a jerk, and yet, he still loves you."

Tezuka gave a wry kind of smile that would have looked sad on anyone else. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"What, you're dense, too?" Yukimura's smile sharpened, losing what mask of sweetness he had managed to place.

Tezuka sighed and moved to caress Syusuke's face. Yukimura had half a mind to slap his hand away.

"I know I don't deserve him-"

"That's good. Because you don't." This time, Yukimura did slap the hand away. "What were you playing at, anyway, Tezuka? Did you think, did you think for one second, that I was just going to stand here and watch as you slowly walk him to his death?" He took a deep breath to rein in the tears, he would be _damned_ before he would let Tezuka Kunimitsu see him cry. "He's all I've got left. And if you don't love him enough, then leave, because there are people who hurt when he's hurt and there are people who love him-"

"I love him, too."

"Really?" Yukimura pretended to look surprised. "Really, Tezuka? Because, you know, I don't see it."

"He does."

That brought Yukimura up short. And for many seconds, he didn't have anything to say, nothing at all, because well... What _could_ he say? (Resentfully, he admitted inside that Tezuka was right, Syusuke _did_ see, and that was enough, because Syusuke was the only one who needed to see. But it doesn't mean he liked it.) So he stood there and held Tezuka's hard, determined, strong gaze and for one moment, a very small one, he could actually see _why_ Syusuke chose him. And then the moment passed, and Yukimura was back to wondering how anyone sane (and without martyrdom tendencies) could let himself fall in love with a bastard ice block like Tezuka.

He supposed he'd never get the answer.

He looked away, and took a really, really deep breath, because this went against all his principles and all his... _everything_. But he could do it, he _would_, not for Tezuka's sake, but for his cousin who deserved to be happy.

He shifted uncomfortably, trying to push aside the itch, the disturbance of the shadows in his mind, because he was doing _something important here, shut the fuck up for a moment, why don't you_?

There, nice and quiet.

Another deep breath. And, without flinching, he took hold of Tezuka's hand, splayed out on the bed by Syusuke's.

Tezuka met his gaze, and there it was again, that... that moment.

He turned his head to the side and almost grudgingly, said, "I don't often give second chances. So don't squander it this time."

He felt more than saw Tezuka's small smile. "Thank you."

"I still hate you, Tezuka. I still don't like you, and I still think you're a bastard who doesn't deserve even a single strand of Syusuke's hair. But he loves you and," Yukimura shrugged. "And Syusuke's always been wiser than me, so... So there. I'm not going to interfere with his choices anymore."

"You are kind."

Yukimura rolled his eyes and smirked. "Please, Tezuka, stop. You and I both know you're not a very good liar."

./.

Chitose did not like not knowing things. He'd been using his alice ever since he could walk and talk, and his alice helped him understand things. He was never clueless or confused and even though sometimes, he was, that was fixed, and very, very quickly.

Which was why he was in the dank prisons (or whatever) that Persona had gotten for their well.. prisoners, because he didn't like not knowing anything.

Persona had been tight-lipped and since they weren't exactly buddy-buddy, he couldn't just stroll in and _ask_. All Yukimura had to say was Syusuke entered Death, period (and fuck if he believed that), when there was so obviously more to it than _that_, Persona wasn't the type of person to call in students for _demonstrations_. Tezuka had been more or less unreachable ever since Syusuke's almost-death, he'd been un-anything, actually, and the teachers who were brave (stupid) enough to call him on it had gotten a whole new meaning of fucked up shit (Tezuka got away with it, of course, because if there was one thing good about being Persona's student, it's that everyone usually lets you get away with things, though it resulted to a serious lack of teachers in the Language department, Keigo had been ecstatic to find out that his German sensei was one of the stupid ones).

He'd like some answers sometime in the next hour or so, and he'd like to talk to someone who'd actually give him damn straight answers when he wanted them to, and not the avoid-and-evade strategy that had always worked so damn well for Yukimura. (At the end of their conversation, Chitose was almost all the way convinced that there was no problem and it was all just his imagination. And then, for the briefest of moments, Yukimura's eyes tightened and he _knew_ everything Yukimura had spouted was fucking bullshit. Fuck bitches and their way with words.)

And there happened to be one very convenient person around who could do just that. And the fact that she was possibly involved in all of this was just an added bonus.

What was her name again?

...Maihara Chizuru.

Pretty enough girl, nice face, sexy body, and if it wasn't for the fact that she worked for the wrong person, then maybe he could have overlooked that she was probably a hundred-year-old-something immortal (who happened to have a sadistic, psychotic murder streak).

But she did and oh, well, regrets.

Maihara Chizuru, who he was damn sure was placed in this fucking room.

Except she wasn't.

He backed out of the room, closed his eyes, did a go-around (three times) and came up short. She wasn't here. And, to his knowledge, no one had been ordered to move her, either.

Damn. Persona would be so fucked-

He stiffened.

What was that?

He sensed a presence behind him that he was sure was not there before.

He took a deep breath and opened his senses. Right? No, to the left, from the entrance. The steps were measured and soft, barely noticeable, and distinctly geisha-like. Shit. His eyes darted around the room once again, looking for possible weapons. There weren't any, of course, they wouldn't be stupid enough to leave weapons behind in the prison of an enemy. Shit, he hated fighting bare-handed. That sucked. Next time he was going in here, he was gonna bring a fucking gun.

...Not too far now, and he didn't have too many choices. Go back and fight, or ambush? No, she probably already noticed him by now (shit, man this was so fucked up). Okay, okay. So go back and fight (bare-handed, damn it) and get her under his control again (how the _hell_ did she break free in the first place?). It would take just a second, he just had to meet her gaze and he could...

A whoosh of air and he whirled around, mind already prepared, body pumped with adrenaline, drew back his fist (shitshitshit, he _hated_ fighting bare-handed) and made contact.

...

With an impenetrable wall of shadows.

"Fuck, Chitose, what the hell?"

"What, it's my fault?" he pulled his hand back and shook it. "_You__'__re_ the one who stalked in here like some damn thief, the fuck did you expect me to do?"

"I come down a place reserved for _enemies_ and you expect me to be belting out show tunes?" The wall disappeared to reveal a smiling Yukimura, though the raised eyebrow showed he, too was ticked off.

Chitose rolled his eyes and huffed. Prissy bitch princess.

"Well?"

A very large part of Chitose wanted to say _well __what?_ just to annoy the guy, but he held it off, and instead jerked his head to Maihara Chizuru's prison. "We have a problem."

"Yes, I see that," Yukimura replied, walking towards the room, and reaching out to touch the shadows on the wall.

Snippy, prissy, smart-ass bitch princess.

"Hmmm." Yukimura turned back to him, though his hand remained stationary. "Sense anything?"

Chitose scowled. "No," he admitted unwillingly. "She was smart this time."

"She was." Yukimura was frowning, too. "I can't get..." Then his eyes widened, and Chitose knew there was more trouble.

"Shit."

* * *

><p>Clary: I actually intended to double post this with the next chapter, but... LITTLE BROTHERS ARE DEVILS, lemme tell you.<p>

Lia: No comment.

Clary: Of course you don't have a comment, you have Rien and Rien is a nice older brother. Nate, meanwhile, is a little devil who erases documents from his sister laptop without ASKING!

Lia: Still no comment.

Clary: Aghhhhhhhhh... (where is the SYMPATHY, LIA~~~~~~~~?)

Lia: Oh, my gosh, Issa, I'm so sorry you have such an awful brother who erased your file for the story (because SOMEBODY was dumb enough not to save it, of course it was erased).

Clary: FUCK YOU, LIA.

Lia: Sure.

Clary: (WHATEVER, bitch) Anyway~ I'd probably be able to upload the next tomorrow (I'm halfway through rewriting it already, I didn't know rewriting stories could be such a pain in ass, but it IS), so~ Review, okay~


	17. XV Blood and Shadows I

Clary: Ha! Finally done... Took longer than I estimated.. Wow.

Lia: This is the longest chapter she's ever made, we actually had to break it in two. And the second part's not even halfway through yet.

Clary: Ehe~ It's surprisingly hard to make scenes in the Blood and Shadows chapter... I stared at the computer screen for many minutes before I started writing.

Lia: And that happened EVERY AFTER A SCENE CUT. Plus, she had to keep on deleting sentences, because they 'didn't come out right.'

Clary: Well, they DIDN'T. This is hard... And we're almost done, I can't believe it (sobsob)

Lia: But please, enjoy, anyway :)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: EVERYONE~ I'M SO HAPPY, WE'RE ALMOST TO THE END! LOOK FORWARD TO IT, GUYS~~~

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><p><strong>XV. BLOOD AND SHADOWS I<strong>

* * *

><p>Tezuka made sure to school his face into a smile when he saw Syusuke's lashes fluttering. He'd made mistakes, and had let jealousy take over one too many times, but this time, <em>this <em>_time_, it was going to be perfect.

He was still in the happy place he'd been to, when Yukimura had given his approval (Tezuka had no delusions that he was getting anymore of that) and there was nothing that could stop him from making Syusuke just as happy.

He'd been debating over this for many moments now, and he had decided that this was the right time, the _best_ time, to tell Syusuke the truth. They weren't brothers and he could love Syusuke just as much as he loved him and there wouldn't be any problem. No problem at all. Syusuke could be happy, Syusuke could be free, Syusuke could be loved without any inhibitions.

There was something about being able to do that, being able to love Syusuke, that made him feel liberated.

Or maybe it was just because he wasn't lusting after his brother, after all.

"Nii-san?" Syusuke looked surprised and more than a little confused, and he was probably to blame for this.

But he was going to fix it. And he was going to make it right.

"You're not..."

Tezuka smiled again, though his face muscles protested in the activity it wasn't at all used to. "I'm not what?"

"Well, you're here, so, and I thought you were, but you-"

He was rambling. Normally, that was a good thing, that Syusuke was well enough to ramble, but Syusuke's eyes were looking everywhere but where he was, and Syusuke himself was breathing noisily, which was what he did when he was... less than calm.

"Syusuke." That stopped the ramble, though Syusuke still won't look at him.

"I'm not what?" he pressed, reaching out to hold Syusuke's chin and tilt his head towards him.

"You're not.." Syusuke flinched back from his gaze. "Angry?"

"For what?"

"You were angry the last time." That was spoken barely above a whisper, and Syusuke recoiled physically, as if expecting Tezuka to get mad again.

Last time. Last time, when Syusuke had pushed him away for _Meiko_, the girl from his class, brazen almost to the point of being outrageous, and annoying as hell. Yes, he had been jealous, and he thought that leaving would be the only way to keep himself from exploding in front of Syusuke. In hindsight, he realized how that must have looked like, from Syusuke's eyes – him leaving, shaking with barely-suppressed jealousy. But then again, hindsight was usually twenty-twenty.

Damn it.

"I'm not angry now," he informed Syusuke, bending down to kiss him in the cheek, playful in the way that he knew would ease his beloved.

"Oh. That's... I guess that's good."

It wasn't the reply Tezuka expected, it wasn't the anything Tezuka expected actually, and that was saying a lot, because he knew Syusuke very well. And when Syusuke was smiling like that (fake, but trying, and eyes tight with suppressed emotion), Tezuka knew there was something wrong.

"Nii-san? Can I tell you something?"

"I have something to tell you, too."

"Okay." And Syusuke settled back, obviously expecting him to go first, obviously hesitant to talk.

Tezuka cocked his head to the side, wondering. "You go first."

Whatever it was, Tezuka knew he could handle it. They would handle it, together, the two of them.

"When you left, nii-san, Meiko asked to date me." Syusuke paused, and Tezuka felt the blow, like it was a physical punch. Of all the things...

(Tezuka let his guard down.)

"And I said yes."

./.

Syusuke didn't know what he was thinking when he told his nii-san what happened after he left, but he knew, he _knew_, that he wished that his nii-san would say no.

He wished his nii-san would get angry at him for saying yes, that his nii-san would tell him not to go, because Syusuke only belonged with his nii-san and no one else was allowed to have Syusuke.

Even in his head, it was such a long shot.

And no matter how much he wished otherwise, he knew he was right.

He watched the conflicting emotions that crossed their way across his brother's face, in his unguarded moment.

Half a second. That was how long nii-san took to assess the situtation and re-create his mask. A mask that, thus far, he hadn't used to Syusuke. Not when they were like this.

He felt hurt. (Then again, he asked for it.)

"That's... that's good, then." The smile his brother gave was fake, to anyone else, it might have looked real, but to Syusuke, it was plenty fake.

"Good?" Syusuke repeated, feeling even more hurt.

"Yes, good."

"I see."

Just that easily. Nii-san gave him up just that easily. He felt so... insignificant.

Insignificant. That's right. It was good that he remembered his place. He was nothing, after all, just his nii-san's kid brother who happened to loved him a little more than what was allowed.

And nii-san, who probably just didn't want him to get hurt, went and played along.

That hurt so much more than the fact that he was so very easily cast aside.

It had all been fake all along, the kisses, the love, the everything, and he couldn't believe, he couldn't _believe_ that he fell for it. He couldn't believe he let it go _that_ far, he couldn't believe he never listened to the truth that he could never, _never_, be loved in return. He'd been stupid and foolish and childish.

And he ended up just getting himself hurt.

The small voice inside him that he had thus far, easily suppressed was screaming now, wanting to hurt his nii-san just as much as he was hurt, wanting him to feel physically how Syusuke felt emotionally. (And Syusuke would still hurt far much more, because no one could _see_, he didn't have scars to show just how much he hurt.) It was just too bad he didn't have his nii-san's alice.

But he had hands.

And for the first time in his life, Syusuke, genuinely angry, raised his hand against his beloved nii-san.

./.

It could be done at any way, she supposed. She didn't have her katana with her (she had to find it, it was _irreplaceable_ and _priceless_), but she could still summon weapons.

Shuriken?

No, that wouldn't work, unless she really targeted and she wasn't feeling quite so charitable today. Not after what happened.

She raised her legs up and observed them against the light. She'd torn the lower half of her kimono and disposed of it. It wasn't one she particularly cared for, anyway, and it was stained in blood already, so it really wasn't much of a loss. In fact, if it didn't pose harm to her dignity, she'd remove it right now.

She watched shadows frolicking about, and she suspected that they found out already (damn, they were good). But she wasn't going to let herself be found out just yet.

Not until she was done with this first job. Then they could find her, then she would kill them.

Sweet justice.

That said, what weapon was she going to use?

Perhaps she should just do senbons with poisoned tips, that way, the kid would suffer. Judging from the way the shadows were mucking about, that kid was pretty important to that damned shadow alice user, and it would be sweet, sweet, poetic justice to make that brat watch his important person suffer. Hmmm.. That was a good idea. But senbons were just so... Ugh.

A javelin right through his heart? No, too manly, too much effort and she wasn't feeling particularly exhibitionist today. Maybe she'd just slit his throat and let him bleed, like what Ashikaga-san did to his family (well, most of it). But there stood the chance that they could save him. But if she slit right by the carotid... Now _that_ was instant death. And messy as hell.

Ew. She had absolutely _no __desire_ to ruin her kimono any more than it already was.

She should just stick to long-distance weapons. Maybe, if she cared enough to aim, she'd still get the sliced-throat-instant-messy-death while maintaining minimal damage to her clothes (not to mention her skin). As an added bonus, she'd get to see the horror on that shadow alice user brat's face.

Then again, that look could be worth getting herself dirty.

...Well, whatever she did, she would have to decide soon. Her target was coming.

./.

"I _hurt_ you."

It was a broken, almost reedy voice, even to his own ears, pitiful and weak, and just as confused as Syusuke felt inside. He didn't know where that anger came from, he didn't know that _voice_, but he didn't want it and he didn't... he _didn__'__t_ want it.

His hand was still throbbing, the hand he used to hit his own brother, the brother that he _loved_, and he stared at it like it was some kind of animal not from his own body, not acting according to his own whims. The air was cold around his legs, clothed in flimsy pajamas, but he refused to tremble.

He did back away, away from his brother, just away, not minding the pounding of his blood in his ears. He didn't want to be in this room anymore.

But his nii-san's gaze was strong, and it pinned him where he stood.

He wasn't bleeding, at least there was _that_, he was hurt, but he wasn't bleeding.

Small comfort.

"I let you hurt me."

"Why?" This time, his voice cracked, but he stood still, even if he just wanted to crawl into a corner and disappear because he was such a monster, and he couldn't deal with the monster that he was.

"Because I deserved it? Because you had every right? Because it was completely justified?"

"It wasn't, you liar!" Syusuke shook his head and backed away from his brother's advance. "You... you always lie."

"Not to you." Nii-san's voice was pleading. "Tell me, Syusuke, what do you want me to say? What do you want to hear? Because I'm telling you the truth.

"I let you hurt me because I love you."

Syusuke gasped in a sharp breath that he didn't think he could handle. "No, stop! Stop.. lying."

"I'm not lying."

"Yes, you are. You're lying right now."

"Syusuke-"

"You don't love me! You can't." And somewhere along the way, he'd lost his voice, so it cracked. Again. "You can't." And there it was, that urge to cry that he suppressed with only much effort. _Damn_ it.

"I can. I do." His brother was close enough now, so close, he could see his nii-san's shoes, dangerously close, Syusuke had to back away again, until his back hit the door. His hands immediately searched for the knob. He can't _stay_ here.

"I can. Because.." _Because __what?_ he wanted to say. There was not an excuse in the world that could justify falling in love with your own brother. His nii-san couldn't love him, he _couldn__'__t_. "We're not brothers, Syusuke. We never were."

That was... unexpected. But it still did a good job of piercing Syusuke right at the heart. They weren't brothers? What kind of lame, sorry excuse was that?

He managed a small smile. "You know, nii-san, if you didn't like me anymore, you could have just _said_ instead of giving some impossible story like that." There, the doorknob, finally. "I would've understood."

Not a lie. Yes, he would have understood. He would've been hurt, but he would've understood. He knew he'd be hurt no matter what, anyway, so what's the point?

"Syusuke." My _god_, had they been this close? His hand tightened around the knob but it _wouldn__'__t_ turn, what was wrong with it? He had to, he had to get away, he couldn't _take_ this, this..

And then his nii-san kissed him, and he stopped thinking. Because no matter how wrong he thought it was, no matter what protests his mind could come up with, they were all drowned by the sensation, the feeling of being in his brother's arms.

"If I didn't love you, would I do this?" his nii-san asked, in between kisses that left him little room to breathe. He gasped as his nii-san (_no_, Kunimitsu) trailed kiss after kiss on his jaw, down towards the neck, little smoldering fires that burnt and enflamed his very core.

"Would I kiss you like this?" Another kiss that made Syusuke lose all feeling in his legs.

"Would I be jealous of her like this?" Oh, god, please don't make him stop.

"Would I mark you like this?" Lips on his neck, so, so perfect.

"Would I _want_ you like this?" Kunimitsu pressed their bodies together and he felt it, his desire, _Kunimitsu__'__s_ desire for him. _For __him_.

His eyes flew open to meet Kunimitsu's blazing hazel, so dark, so full of unbridled passion that left him trembling.

And Kunimitsu was smiling. "I can love you, because you are not my brother." A hand smoothed his hair back, gently, _gently_. "And I am not your nii-san.

"We have different fathers..."

_("My pride, my son, my heir. You will grow up to be a great Fuji, my Syusuke.")_

"...Different mothers.."

_("You don't know how happy I am to be your mother, my darling little Syusuke.")_

"...We are not siblings."

_("He'd grow up to be a little heartbreaker, someday. Until then, he'll be my Syusuke.")_

_("You'd have a little brother soon enough, my sweet. Just wait. He'll be perfect, just like you.")_

"So I can love you the way I do."

And if Syusuke was there, if Syusuke had _heard_, he would have been assured, he would've been happy.

But Syusuke wasn't there anymore.

He was in a magnificent household, very much like the Tezuka family home, and yet very different. A household of pale skins and blue eyes. Blue eyes.

"_Somebody __will __attack __the __Family.__"_

Nine-year-old Fuji Yumiko's prediction that caused a great uproar in the peaceful household. Nine-year-old Fuji Yumiko, the girl from his dream (nee-san...).

"_...No __one __will __run __away. __We __will __fight.__"_

"_It is our pride, as Fujis."_

Determined eyes, so blue like his own. Cries of battle and upholding the family pride.

"_Anata, __what __about __Syusuke?__"_

Fuji Yoshiko's strangled voice. That woman, that woman from his dream (okaa-san...), clutching a small child, blissfully asleep, cradling him against her chest, as if she could protect the child from the world.

"_Take him and Yumiko and go. Go to Ayana and stay with her. I will come and get you once this is all over. I want you all safe, Yoshiko."_

"_I can't. I won't leave you. I won't."_

Fuji Yoshiko's choice, that shaped his entire life.

"_I want you to be brave, for okaa-san, okay? Be brave."_

Fuji Yoshiko giving her child up to a young Tezuka Ayana, tears on her face as she tried to calm her struggling baby. Tezuka Kuniharu was just behind her, holding solemn, one-year-old Tezuka Kunimitsu.

"_I__'__ll __come __back __for __you, __I __promise. __I__'__ll __come __back __for __you, __Syusuke.__"_ Her last kiss to her first son.

She never did come back.

"_...Be brave for okaa-san, okay?"_

She never did come back because she couldn't.

"_I'll come back for you."_

Because she died.

A family. _His_ family. His family that he had lost before he even had them.

He returned to the present with a gasp. Kunimitsu was still before him, loving eyes, loving face. But all he could see, all he could _see_, were blue eyes, blue, blue eyes.

"I.. I need..." What, exactly? What did he need? He didn't know. He _didn__'__t_ know. He wanted...

"_I'll come back for you."_

His hand closed around the doorknob and _turned_, almost desperately. He and Kunimitsu stumbled out into the quiet corridor. Kunimitsu's gaze was questioning, but he couldn't face him just now, not yet, not... not _now_.

"_I'll come back for you."_

Kunimitsu was reaching out, reaching...

"No!" It came out much sharper than expected. He saw Kunimitsu's bewildered expression, and he gave a much softer, "No." He shook his head and started to back away again. "I.. I just need..."

And he still couldn't finish.

"_My pride, my son, my heir."_

"I didn't mean... I just... I can't... I need..."

Against all his everything, he turned and whirled away, away from the sentence he couldn't finish, away from the truth, away from the brother-no-more that loved him.

"_You'll grow up to be a great Fuji someday."_

But he wasn't. He didn't.

Because he grew up a Tezuka.

"_You are perfect, my beautiful Syusuke. My perfect little son. My perfect, beautiful son."_

The Clan of Death, he should have realized. Stupid, _stupid_ Syusuke.

"_Yumiko-nee-san will watch over you today, ne, Syu-chan? Today, and tomorrow, and forever! Because Syu-chan is my darling little brother and I am Syu-chan's onee-sama, ne?"_

Just when he thought he could be happy... The solution that would have made him _happy_...

"_Fuji Syusuke? The perfect name for the next head, Soushu-sama. You must be proud."_

Why can't he ever be happy? He'd already lost _one_ family. But this one, _this_ one, the _true_ one... He'd lost it before he even knew he had it. He didn't even...

"_Someday, my Syusuke, you will grow up to be the next Fuji Soushu. And you will be a great one, too, just like your father."_

The tears fell even before he realized he was crying.

./.

When Yukimura, panting and panicked got to the infirmary, Tezuka was outside, in the corridor, _alone_. And suddenly, the deep sense of foreboding Yukimura had became much, much, worse.

"Where is Syusuke?" he demanded harshly, not stopping to breathe, knowing that the dark room behind Tezuka was empty.

Tezuka looked up from studying the hallway, looking almost surprised at finding himself outside. Yukimura wanted to shake him.

Tezuka smiled sadly. "I think he needs time to himself."

"No, he doesn't," Yukimura retorted, looking around, feeling fidgety and restless and uncomfortable at _staying __put_. "Not right now, he doesn't." He looked around once again, letting more shadows scour more areas.

"Just let him be for the time being, Yukimura."

God _damn_ fucking dense bastard, he didn't have _time_ for this. "Tezuka, _where __is __he_?"

Tezuka took note of his expression, of his tension and finally, _finally_ got it. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain right now, I need to know where Syusuke is." He tapped his foot twice to emphasize his point. And his impatience. He did _not_ have time to be playing teacher with little bastard Tezuka.

"He.. ran that way," Tezuka replied, pointing down the corridor that would lead out of the building.

Yukimura stared at Tezuka incredulously. "You.. He _what_?"

"Ran. That way."

"You let him _go_?"

"I told him the truth."

"And you let him _go_?"

"What should I have done?" Tezuka asked, with the self-loathing face again, and Yukimura knew he was beating himself up inside. Already. "I would've only made him more upset."

"I don't care, Tezuka, I don't care if he would be mad at you, at _anyone_ for the rest of his life, you don't just let him..." Ugh, there was _no __time_ for this.

"Just... just _find_ him, okay?" he told Tezuka, already running down the corridor. Tezuka matched his pace easily, of course he would, and in seconds, he passed Yukimura and took the lead.

"Tezuka!" he called as Tezuka reached the door to the outside, and as he prepared to turn to another hallway, just in case Syusuke might have turned.

Tezuka turned back, not slowing in his movements.

"If he gets hurt, I will _never_ forgive you."

./.

He was even yummier in person. More effeminate than androgynous, and god_damn_ it, it should be a crime to be _that_ feminine. He was so damn pretty (and he was a _guy_!), made even prettier by the fact that he was crying. This wasn't what she expected, but the emotion, the sadness was so tangent, she could _taste_ it.

Oh, dear, he was such a waste.

She supposed she could be nice and kill him painlessly.

She supposed.

She let his muscles freeze up, felt every joint locking up, and watched as he, uncaring of his currently paralyzed position, just went on crying.

She jumped down from her position easily, by the front gate of the Academy, surprised he even ran this far. Oh well, at least she didn't need to go far. Another katana appeared in her grasp, different from her favorite six-feet long one, but comfortable. Painless, because he was such a damn waste.

She could be kind, when she wanted to.

She was so close, he didn't even notice, or if he did, he didn't bother. He was still crying.

And through the cold breeze, she heard brief, soft, pained murmurs of "_Father_" and "_Mother_". And she _froze_. Literally, her muscles locked up because _that_ hit very, very close to home.

(_"Listen, my Yurehime, run. Run fast and hard, and trust no one, not even the Shinsengumi. Mother and Father will have to go now, but remember that Mother and Father would always be in your heart, okay? Mother and Father will never be truly gone."_)

And for the first time since the first time she was asked to kill, she hesitated, _genuinely_ hesitated.

Because he was just like her.

He was crying for his family. Many, many years ago, there was a young girl, homeless and scruffy, crying, too, for her family. The family that she lost only because they had been at the wrong place, at the wrong time, fighting for the wrong side.

Like him.

_I can't do this._

The sadness she could taste, the tangible pain, so, so much like hers.. She couldn't. And the katana disappeared from her hand. She reached out her arms and wrapped them around the kid who shared the same pain, the same burden she bore. She closed her eyes and tightened her embrace.

He was so cold.

"It's okay," she whispered, even as he tensed against her hold. "It's okay."

And when he relaxed, when he leaned back, it was such a peaceful, beautiful moment, she realized she couldn't. She couldn't kill him. Not a child out of her own heart.

"Syusuke!" The voice cut against the darkness and she glanced up sharply, and saw him. Another one of Persona's brats. What was the.. Oh, yeah. Tezuka Kunimitsu.

And just as she was realizing his alice, pain erupted in the left side of her body, unlike anything she ever felt before. She actually _screamed_. And there was _blood_ again.

_Damn_ it. She jumped away from the kid to a considerably far position, but enough that he was still in sight. Her blood boiled, and her wavering resolve firmed.

The sad thing was, she was going to let the kid live, too, even if it was against Ashikaga-san's orders, but this.. this Tezuka Kunimitsu just had to come and ruin _everything_ for the child. When the beautiful, blue-eyed child would die (because he _would_, she'd make sure of it), it was going to be all that Tezuka brat's fault, and she was going to make sure he knew it.

"Whatever you do is futile!" she screamed, making damn sure he heard it. "That kid dies today!"

./.

_Those last few moments before death, that's what people usually remember._

_./._

Tezuka's face was hot with adrenalin, his blood pulsing so hard in his veins, only seeing Syusuke's tear-stained, delicate, beautiful, beautiful face and the woman behind, too far, but close enough, her weapon poised to kill.

Tezuka screamed again. "Move, Syusuke!"

./.

_The killer remembers because. _

_The widened eyes, the surprise, the last words, even the last sounds of the heartbeats. Those are the remnants of the life he has stolen, the remnants of the person he has deprived of the privilege to live. It clings to the killer, like a lost soul, a mark of darkness. And even though he might not feel remorse..._

_The killer will never forget._

_./._

Maihara Chizuru smirked at the running kid. A futile effort, she has her target already frozen. She was an effective assasin because of this, and no matter what, no matter how much he will struggle, that boy, her target, would die. The wounds he had given her were healing already, and would hinder nothing, and she was going to make sure that this was extra painful because that brat had the gall to actually _wound_ her while she was busy with someone else (while she was busy deciding not to kill his oh-so-beloved Syusuke).

She positioned herself in the stance she wanted, and her favorite bow materialized in her waiting hands, an arrow already strung. The arrow would disappear once it hit, of course, but it wouldn't change the fact that she _hit_.

And the wounds and the blows it would cause would be _real_.

./.

_The spectator remembers because._

_A life given was a gift, a life taken was a tragedy. A life taken in front of his own eyes, would be a tragedy forever. The wilting of a soul, like the wilting of a flower, slow, slow torture that would engrave itself into his very core, a sadness that will be his to bear, forever. And no matter how much the grief..._

_The spectator will never forget._

_./._

Tezuka ran, and he didn't think he could go faster, but he _had_ to. Yet, everything seemed awfully slow, _awfully, __awfully __slow_. His footfalls couldn't match the racing of his heartbeat, but matched the ticking of the clock, and every second lost was lost too soon.

Syusuke wasn't moving, but realization was making its way to his face, darkening his eyes, a sight that will forver bury itself in Tezuka's mind. Syusuke wasn't _meant_ to feel this way, he wasn't _meant_ to... God knew just how hard Tezuka tried to let him be happy.

They could be happy now.

They could genuinely be happy.

From the edge of his vision, Tezuka saw the arrow release, and he told himself to run faster.

But Syusuke, unmoving, beautiful Syusuke, slowly stretched his lips in a sad, sad smile. His eyes were clear, blue like the serene sky, and he shook his head, as if telling Tezuka _no_.

Tezuka only tried harder.

./.

_The dying remembers because._

_Those last few moments, no matter what it was, will be the best few moments of his life. His senses would heighten, and everything would be so, so clear, as he tries to hold on to the last strand of life, even as it is cut and wrestled away from his grasp. And even as he floats towards the Gates that would close his life forever..._

_The dying would never forget._

_./._

Syusuke knew it was childish, but he wished it wouldn't hurt. He'd been to Death many times, he wasn't scared of that, and his only regret was that he never realized the truth sooner.

He looked up again, to his nii-san-no-more's beautifully handsome face. The tousled hair, the high cheekbones, the perfect nose, the beautiful mouth. And the bottomless hazel eyes that drowned Syusuke with their love.

"_We're not brothers, Syusuke. We never were."_

And they could have been so happy.

...But at least, at least, he'd have this. Even if he died, he'd have this. He'd have his Kunimitsu's love, he'd have the knowledge that he _was_ loved completely, wholly, by his Kunimitsu. He'd have the memory of those eyes so, so full of love, and those kisses so, so full of the promise of the passion they could have shared.

At least, he had that.

...He wished it wouldn't hurt so much. They had hurt enough.

The blow sent his head reeling, and he stumbled back physically, trying to keep his balance and failing. He gave out a gasp, he couldn't help it, and Kunimitsu's face was in front of his own, so clear, sharp and in focus. There was a desperation in him that Syusuke couldn't stand to see.

"Kunimitsu..."

Then the blood poured out, soaking his clothes, blooming like a flower even though he couldn't see, and he looked up, back at his beloved's face, and he felt the roaring waters of Death.

And he started to cry.

./.

_Those last few moments before a death, the tears, the blood, the shadows, those are the last few moments that people will never forget._

* * *

><p>Clary: Reviews are my inspiration, guys~ So please indulge me and review, kay~~<p>

Lia: We have short notes because this chapters so long.

Clary: Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. And I wrote it.. (Ehe~)


	18. XVI Blood and Shadows II

Clary: There are no excuses, I know, but well... I'M SOOO SORRY~~~~~ I meant to update sooner but I had to write a play... so... Death Play has been put on hold for a while. I'm so, so, so, so sorry. You have every right to shoot me. Go ahead. (I'm pretty mad at myself, too, actually.)

Lia's not around, coz she's busy with the play and everything (she's the stage manager) and even though we are in our Christmas break, we're all busy working our asses off for the play, which we have to put up in January. Gah. So yeah, this chapter is untouched by Lia, and I frankly hate it (because it was untouched by Lia, and I'm pretty sure it's awful and would suck.) Please tell me any mistakes so I'll correct them. I spent the entire day reading and rereading the chapter so I get any mistakes (and 'needless profanities' - Lia's words) out, but I can never do it the way Lia does it. Mou.

And I didn't realize how hard Lia's work is. Because fanfiction's formatting is screwed up, and since Lia's not here, I have to do everything myself! And fanfiction is having fun screwing with me :((((((((

(On a side note, I'm watching Prince of Tennis right now, and slacking off of my scriptwriter duties, which will get me into so much trouble with our bitch of a director, but whatever.)

Anyway~ I managed to get this done before Christmas so~~~

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO Y'ALL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Although I wish I could give you guys a better Christmas present. This chapter sucks :((( So bad.)

But, please, do enjoy its suckiness.

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (the fearless stage manager), Alatarielf (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your encouragement was what I really needed~~ I'm sorry, but I wish I could've given you something better than this but THANK YOU SO MUCH), phoenixfirekitsune (ehehe... I'm sorry if this is quite late...), lemon-and-chai (-frantic- no, calm down, please.. it's okay :) and I love Yuki, too~ hope you enjoy this chappie's suckiness), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (thank you~ I appreciate it, ne? I hope you're not disappointed in this chapter... –sigh-)

* * *

><p><strong>XVI. BLOOD AND SHADOWS II<strong>

* * *

><p><em>The day Syusuke was discharged from the infirmary was the day that Tezuka willingly allowed snuggling. <em>

_He thought, at the very least, he could give himself and Syusuke the break from all the rules he had unconsciously set up for them. Right then, at that time, they were fresh off of fear and grief, and frankly, having his brother in his arms, alive and well was something that Tezuka needed right then._

_Because he was the only thing Tezuka had left._

_Tezuka looked down at Syusuke, who was watching him silently with his wide blue eyes. Even now, there was a deep sadness in them that Tezuka couldn't match. Like Syusuke had gone through something similar before, which was silly, because Tezuka had fought tooth and nail just to make sure Syusuke never did. _

_But the sadness remained, and Tezuka wasn't quite sure what to do with it. He couldn't bear seeing Syusuke like that, deep blue eyes drowned in grief so large it frightened even Tezuka. _

"_I'm here, you know," Tezuka told him softly, tightening his hold on his brother. "I'll always be here."_

_Syusuke didn't say anything, his only response was to bury himself deeper and deeper into Tezuka's chest. A few moments later, Tezuka realized he was crying. Again._

_Damn it._

"_Syusuke, I..."_

"_Nii-san, I know." Even his voice was choked with grief. And Tezuka was stuck here, stuck to just holding him and whispering words that he knew Syusuke will never take comfort from. Tezuka was never any good at... this... this comforting stuff. It was awkward and he usually left up the task for Syusuke, who was compassionate and kind. All his life, it was only ever Syusuke who was doing the comforting. _

_Now it was different, and Tezuka hated himself for not knowing what to do._

"_I know," Syusuke mumbled into his chest slowly, trembling like a leaf. "I know, but..."_

_Syusuke wiggled out of his embrace and turned his body away, curling in on himself, hugging his knees. Tezuka, more than anything, wanted to reach out and wrap his brother in his embrace, to protect him from the pain that they shared, to take it away even though he knew he couldn't, to whisper assurances they both knew were lies but that they both needed. Syusuke, more than anyone. _

_He can't take this. Syusuke shouldn't... He shouldn't be made to suffer like this._

_But Tezuka can't do anything, because he was just as broken. So he lay on his back, eyes at the ceiling, hating his helplessness._

"_Mother said the exact same thing," he heard Syusuke whisper, in the same grief-stricken tone, the same anguish. "And now she's gone... And so is Father... And Grandfath-"_

_This time, Tezuka did embrace him, cutting him off. Tezuka didn't care if this comfort would be false, he didn't care if all he could say were lies, if they would make Syusuke feel better, if it would erase the sadness from his voice, Tezuka would do it. He'd do anything._

"_What can I do?" he asked his brother. Syusuke only had to say the word. Tezuka would do anything. _

_Anything at all._

"_Why __are __you __being __so _nice _to __me!" __Syusuke__'__s __scream __was __more __an __exclamation __than __a __question __and __Tezuka __had __to __tighten __his __hold __against __Syusuke__'__s __struggle._

"_Syusuke.."_

"_Don__'__t __you __realize, __don__'__t __you _realize_... __I __could __have __saved __them! __I __could __have... __I __could __have... __I __could __have...__" __His __brother __was __breathing __noisily __now, __still __pushing __against __his __arms, __tears __still __freely __running __on __his __cheek._

"_I __could __have _saved _them! __I __always __thought... __I _always _thought __having __this... __this __alice __was __useless! __I __couldn__'__t __heal __anyone, __I __couldn__'__t __protect __anyone, __I __couldn__'__t __be __just __like __nii-san __and... __And __the __one __time__ – __the _one time_ – __it __mattered, __the __one __time __it __wasn__'__t __useless, __I __couldn__'__t __do __it!__"_

"_It's not your fault, Syusu-"_

"_No, __don__'__t __tell __me! __Don__'__t _lie_! __You __always __lie __to __me!__" __Syusuke __was __struggling __harder __now, __truly __fighting __against __his __hold, __almost __trying __to __get __away, __his __anger __directed __towards __himself __so __palpable, __stronger __than __even __his __grief._

"_Mother__'__s __hair! __That __was __all __I __saw! __Hair!__" __A __bitter, __self-depreciating __laugh.__ "__I __didn__'__t __even... __I __could __have... __I __could __have, __don__'__t __you _see_! __I __could __have, __but __I __didn__'__t! __I __didn__'__t! __You... __You __should __be __mad __at __me! __You __shouldn__'__t __be __nice! __I __ki-__"_

_Tezuka had had enough. Using all his strength he struggled against Syusuke, too, and the next few minutes became a tangle of arms and legs, kicks and screams that tore at Tezuka's heart. But he didn't stop. _

_It took many more minutes to calm Syusuke down. And even then, Tezuka was restraining him, pinning his wrists to the bed, his knees locking Syusuke's tiny legs together. He was panting, he realized, on all fours on top of Syusuke who refused to meet his gaze. And who was still crying._

"_It__'__s __not __your __fault!__" __he __growled, __tightening __his __hold __on __Syusuke__'__s __wrists.__ "__Do __you __hear __me? __It__'__s __not __your __fault, __Syusuke, __stop __being __so __selfish! __I__'__m __hurting, __too, __I __lost __them, __too. __But __there__'__s __nothing __else __we __could __do __but __move __on. __That__'__s __what __they __would __have __wanted!__They __wouldn__'__t __have __wanted __us __to __keep __being __stuck __on __the __fact __that __we __could __have __saved __them, __when __we __both __know..__" __He __paused __and __shook __Syusuke __slightly __then, __the __first __time __he __ever __did __something __so __violent __to __his __brother.__ "__We _both _know __you __couldn__'__t. __I __know __it __will __kill __you.__" _

_Syusuke __opened __his __mouth __to __protest, __but __Tezuka __cut __him __off.__ "__I _know_, __Mother __told __me. __You__'__re __too __young, __do __you __get __it? __You__'__re __too __young, __and __you__'__re __all __I __have __left! __And __I __am __not __going __to __lose __you, __too.__" __Tezuka __enunciated __each __word __clearly, __not __caring __if __he __was __screaming __now, __too, __only __wishing __that __his __words __would __get __to __Syusuke __somehow._

_Tezuka was breathing hard, then, and for a very long moment, it was all the sound that could be heard in the large room. Tezuka felt tired, all of a sudden, drained, and all he wanted to do was lie back down and sleep with Syusuke in his arms. But he had to make a point._

_And he had to make sure it was clear._

"_I love you," Tezuka whispered, dipping his head so it was against Syusuke's own. He meant every word and more. "I love you so much. I won't bear it if I lost you, too."_

"_Nii-san?" Syusuke's voice was hoarse, but he sounded like the little boy he used to be again. There was no trace of the self-hatred he had in his tone. But he sounded just as tired as Tezuka felt. "Ne, I love nii-san, too."_

"_Good," Tezuka said firmly, and as Syusuke gave a breathless little laugh, Tezuka let go and settled in beside his brother._

_Syusuke threaded their fingers together. When he looked back up to Tezuka, he was smiling. And despite his tear-stained face, Tezuka knew the smile was real._

_Tezuka put his arm around his brother, exhausted and relieved. "Now go to sleep."_

"_Nii-san?" Syusuke called out tentatively, poking his brother's cheek. _

_Tezuka opened his closed eyes and hummed to show that he was listening. _

"_Say you love me."_

_Tezuka blinked in surprise, but his response was automatic. He ignored that part of his brain that was rejoicing. Those were bad thoughts. "I love you."_

_Syusuke's smile widened. "Then, if it's okay, from now on, nii-san..." Syusuke was looking straight at his eyes, squeezing his hand eagerly. And all of a sudden, even though Tezuka knew that it was a bad time, and these were bad thoughts, he was assaulted by a great rush of love for his brother. And he found himself thinking that Syusuke had never been so beautiful. And he found himself wanting to kiss Syusuke. _

"_From now on," Syusuke repeated, eyes large and blue. "Nii-san, I'll live for you."_

_Tezuka's response was to crush his brother to his chest, heart tightening almost painfully, eyes beginning to burn with tears Tezka would not allow himself to shed. He just focused on Syusuke, on his beautiful little brother, his beautiful, beautiful brother, and focused on trying to make them become, physically, what they were, truly._

_One existence._

_(When Tezuka finally found his voice, he whispered, finding it hoarse and thick with unshed tears. "And I for you.")_

./.

In Death, there was chaos. The waters were splashing every which way, the waves were huge, and the dead that had lagged in the water, the dead that were now part of his Army were screaming once again, shrinking back from the pulsing light of the barrier. It was obvious something was happening in life, and he had to smirk, because he knew it was Chizuru.

And that meant that that troublesome Fuji heir, his first and his last miscalculation, was being taken care of.

He loved it when he won. He laughed aloud, giddy with the feeling of almost-victory.

Morto's form, beside him, was rippling and solidifying all at once, but the eyes were trained on him, and his laughing form.

"_My __Lord, __you _are _quite __sly, __aren__'__t __you?__"_ he asked, in a tone that suggested that he had a newfound respect for his master.

He could only smirk at the pulsing light, at his apparent success.

First the dead Fuji, and then the entire Academy.

Revenge was sweet. He'd have to remember to give Chizuru a little something later. A kimono, perhaps? One from that old woman who had lived before, during the time that Chizuru had enjoyed, who made the kimonos that Chizuru loved wearing.

She was quite fast, if he had to say so himself. Just a few hours or so, and he'd already have the death of the Fuji heir that had eluded him, and the destruction of the Academy that had fucked with him.

Morto was laughing, a grating sound like gravel against gravel, but was music to his ears.

The Greater Dead's eyes were trained on the bright, pulsing light, already beginning to dim, muttering to himself, fully solidifying his form.

"_It seems, my Lord, that... Well, it is more than enough."_

And before he could ask for any explanation, Morto had gathered up all of his inky darkness and rushed towards the dimming light. His eyes followed the Greater Dead, feeling victorious at the fact that now, the light didn't even make the creature flinch.

Really, Persona could have done a whole lot better. Who thought, that after all this time, all Persona had up his sleeve for a last desperate defense against him and his entire Army was a clueless, helpless little kid?

The very least he could have done was keep the kid protected.

Which he obviously didn't do. Oh, well. It was just like Persona to be arrogant. And what does it matter, really. It just meant that he won all the more easily. He'd have great fun destroying the thrice-damned Academy and hell, if Persona wasn't there to gloat to.

Persona would definitely be there, and he'd definitely gloat. But that would be for later.

For now, Persona's brats could suffer.

He laughed again, his laughter echoed by Morto.

And even against all the noise, against the screaming and the thrashing, the sound of something breaking was victoriously loud.

./.

Persona watched the front of the Academy with almost practiced calm. His mind was whirring a hundred and one miles per hour, because watching the fighting figures by the gate made it easily known that the time was up.

Slight miscalculation. He thought that the Fuji kid could've at least bought them more time. Or keep Ashikaga at bay entirely.

He should've done something about the Tezuka kid, he supposed that was the reason why it came to all this, this quickly.

Oh, well, he couldn't do anything about it at all right now.

It was a pity, the Fuji kid would have been really useful, too. The last alice of death there would ever be, and he'd only used it all of once.

Ah, regrets.

Well, he could regret later. Right now, what he really needed to do was to make ready. He suspected that Ashikaga's army would be coming in soon.

(He had no intention of fighting yet, of course, why would he?)

He glanced at the student waiting for his orders behind him, expression as blank and as bored as his. He liked this student, cocky as hell, yes, but the alice and the potential more than made up for it. He was new, just came in the Academy this year, but he was damn good, and Persona liked that he was damn good, although he didn't like him enough that he actually knew him as well as the Tezuka kid and all the others. (What was his name again? Echigo.. Echinen.. Echi-something.)

He spared the figures by the gate one last dispassionate glance before he turned away. They could take care of it, it was just a girl. And they had better do it fast, because he needed them in the front lines, fighting the Army. It was the only way his plan would work.

They could all grieve later. They could grieve for days, for all he cared, he had Echigo. Or Echinen. Whatever.

He glanced at the cocky brat with blazing gold eyes. "Make ready and tell the others," Persona told his student. "I want you in the front lines, Echigo-kun." Screw the name.

A hand shot out before he could continue walking. He paused, raised his brow and met the kid's cocky gaze.

"My name, old man, is Echi_zen_. Echizen Ryoma." A smirk that Persona really didn't feel like returning. "You'd best remember it."

And his student was gone.

Persona had to grin. Great potential, indeed. Not enough that he could replace the Fuji kid, but great all on his own way. Perhaps, after all this was over, and when Tezuka-kun was done grieving, he'd let Tezuka-kun train the brat.

It would take the Tezuka kid's mind off the not-brother that Persona could never use anymore.

If he was _really_ lucky, maybe, Echi_zen_ Ryoma would even replace the Fuji kid's place as his leverage over Tezuka. (He doubted it, and _shit_, he'd have to look for another leverage over the Tezuka kid and _fast_, because grief-stricken kids were the most unpredictable. Especially since Persona would be half the reason why the Fuji kid was lost... Then again, maybe Persona wouldn't have to, and Echi_zen_ _would_ take the Fuji kid's place. Persona was _really_ lucky, after all.)

Well, he'll just have to see.

./.

It was a clean, strong shot.

And had it been any other situation, Tezuka would have admired the skill of the shooter. But it wasn't any other situation, and Tezuka was busy feeling pain, cutting it off, focusing on the woman and his bleeding Syusuke all at the same time.

Syusuke was limp in his arms, almost doll-like, but he couldn't be dead, because he _couldn__'__t_.

He couldn't.

He couldn't.

He was alive, Tezuka was sure. He couldn't be anything else. Syusuke was alive, he was _alive_, he couldn't be anything else.

He couldn't be dead.

Tezuka bit back tears, frustrated with himself. Why the hell was he crying? Syusuke wasn't dead, he was just... just a little hurt, that's all.

That. Was. All. Syusuke had been a little hurt a few times before, but he never died. He never died. _Never_. He always got better, always came back to Tezuka, smiling and healthy and _alive_.

Syusuke wasn't dead.

He couldn't.

He couldn't because many years ago, Syusuke had promised – _promised!_ – that he'd live for Tezuka. Tezuka... Tezuka was still living and breathing and alive, so that meant that Syusuke was, too. Right? Right. Syusuke never broke his promises.

So he wasn't dead.

Of course not, it was silly of Tezuka to even think that.

He hastily removed his uniform top, ignoring the pain, trying not to wince, wiping away the tears that had clouded his vision. His hands were shaking as he folded his top up and pressed it against Syusuke's back, trying to stem the blood flow. The arrow had disappeared almost after it hit, but.. No.

He was just a little hurt. Just a little. That's all. Syusuke wasn't dead. He _wasn__'__t_.

He couldn't.

Tezuka's breathing was ragged. And he blinked back more tears. No. He shouldn't be crying, because there was nothing to cry about. Nothing at all. He turned his uniform over, already saturated with blood, and pressed it harder against Syusuke's back. The blood wasn't stopping. See, he wasn't dead. His blood was still flowing. That meant his heart was still beating. Right? _Right_? He couldn't remember.

_Damn __it_.

"Syusuke," he whispered, pressing his lips to a cold forehead. His voice sounded raw. "Syusuke, _please_. Wake up." _Don__'__t __die. __Don__'__t __leave __me_.

"Oh, got hurt, did you?"

The woman assassin's voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked up and glared at her, his blood suddenly boiling, his vision suddenly red.

"Don't bother, I'm just checking to see if your little precious Syusuke is really dead," she said, arrogant both in stance and tone. "I'm not here for _you_."

Tezuka saw the shadows shifting.

"You know what's the best part of all this?" she asked conversationally, making no move towards them at all, even though she had just said she was checking if she had accomplished her mission. Of course she wouldn't. She obviously expected Syusuke to die.

Tezuka laid Syusuke gently on the ground, watching as the shadows slowly, erratically, crept up Syusuke's back, pressing against the gaping wound. He touched Syusuke's serene face briefly, and felt grief slash his heart once again. He ignored his own wound, almost similar, bleeding even now.

It was just his left elbow. It wouldn't kill him. (Though he hoped it would. But after. Later. First, he needed revenge.)

"The best part," she continued, laughing, sneering. "Is that it's completely _your_ fault why he's dead."

From the corner of his eye, he could already see Yukimura falling to his knees by Syusuke's unmoving form. He was crying, hard, and his movements were almost frantic, his voice shrill as he talked to Syusuke, who wasn't responding.

And he never would.

Tezuka refused to be sad. He could grieve later. For now, for _now_, he'd satisfy himself by taking his revenge from Syusuke's killer.

He leapt toward her, his entire mind set on her death.

So what if she was immortal.

Tezuka would find a way.

She would be so sorry she decided to cross Tezuka this way. Tezuka would never forgive her, and he'd never stop until she, too, was dead, unmoving and cold.

./.

"_Ne, Seiichi, I love you!"_

Yukimura didn't care about the fight that was happening.

He didn't care about Tezuka, whose left arm was bleeding like crazy and who was fighting an immortal woman right now.

He didn't care about the fact that more and more Dangerous Ability students were gathering before the gate, studiously, a defense against the _zombies_ that have suddenly appeared in front of the Academy. He knew, he _knew_ that this was what Syusuke was protecting them from, what Syusuke had risked his life for.

_Syusuke_.

He cradled his cousin gently in his arms, and started crying all over again.

He'd tried so hard.

"_Ne, Seiichi, I love you!"_

And then, after everything, after all his effort, he could never ever hear Syusuke's voice again, or see Syusuke's eyes or... or...

... She'd told him no more. She told him to his face that this wasn't going to happen again.

She was such a liar.

He dropped his head to Syusuke's unmoving chest, wishing there would be a heartbeat once again. He knew that asking for it was too much, but he wished, anyway, to whatever diety was there, listening to him.

He wouldn't ask for anything else, he promised, nothing at all. Just as long as Syusuke was alive. Just as long as he lived. Just as long as Syusuke woke up, and looked at him with his large blue eyes once again.

Just as long as his heart continued beating.

Yukimura wouldn't ask for anything else.

Nothing else.

Just please, _please_, let Syusuke live once again, and he wouldn't _ever __ever_ ask for anything else.

_Please._

But of course, even that was too much to ask. And Syusuke remained motionless and cold.

He looked up dimly to realized that Tezuka had just plunged the woman's own katana right through her heart.

It was no use. She was immortal, she'd just wake up again afterwards. She'd just heal and revive and she'd wake up and live again.

Unlike Syusuke.

He clenched his fist and he sent a shadow shooting towards them, climbing up her figure until it twirled around her little neck. Yukimura squeezed, tightening his grip almost painfully.

And he did nothing to calm the little bubbling of satisfaction he had when Tezuka pulled out the katana, and she revived not a few minutes later, flopping like a little fish, gasping for air, clutching her neck like it would stop _him_.

He couldn't kill her, she would never die in his hands.

But he could make her wish she had never been born.

_For __Syusuke, __you __bitch_.

He felt something cold touch his arm, a fluttering touch that he didn't pay any attention to, until he realized that the _immortal_ woman had died.

And had stayed dead.

Yukimura's eyes widened, glancing at Tezuka who was frozen in his spot, staring at him with surprise.

He looked down, looked at his supposedly dead cousin.

"Seiichi," Syusuke greeted in a breathy, whispery voice. "Seiichi, I met Yumiko-nee-san." His eyes were fluttering open and close, as if he had a hard time keeping himself awake, a flush was forming on his cheeks, and frost was starting to cake the ground all around them, but he was smiling, and he was _alive_.

"You're alive," he breathed.

Syusuke blinked up at him, struggling not to fall asleep. "Well, I always 'die' when I go to Death and I-" He cut off when Yukimura hugged him, tight, and something in his back hurt like hell, he had to wince.

"But it was... the arrow..."

"Kunimitsu, he..."

Yukimura looked up to Tezuka, kneeling down to where they were crouched on the ground, smiling gently at Syusuke.

"Syusuke," he greeted warmly, looking at Syusuke like the sun rose and fell with him and Syusuke looked back, with the same distinct expression. Yukimura suddenly felt like he was intruding on a moment that was both private and intimate.

But he couldn't look away.

"Idiot," he heard Syusuke say, still weak, still soft, but dictinctly reprimanding. "You... you let your... Your _arm_."

"It's nothing, Syusuke."

"Kunimitsu, your _arm_!"

"I wouldn't have stood there and let you die."

"It's still _bleeding_!"

"I thought you died."

Syusuke looked away, biting his lip. Yukimura tightened his hold, mindful of Syusuke's injury. They really shouldn't be staying _here_ and risking Syusuke's health further. Not especially since they were so near the battlefield. He could hear the fight outside the Academy starting. Chitose and (wince) Atobe were out there, fighting. Even Shiraishi was fighting.

(And as usual, it surprised Yukimura how he could stand to lose such great amounts of blood and still croon out, "Ecstacy~")

(Kisaragi-chan was there, too, and he felt more than saw her eyes constantly straying to them.)

"I... I was trying to keep the barrier."

"Were you?" There was an edge in Tezuka's tone that Yukimura could forgive him for. He had been scared shitless, too.

"I... I didn't want this to happen!" Syusuke's cry was plaintive. "I didn't want you to be fighting this Army.. I..." He bit his lip again. "This wound isn't fatal," he said, whispering again, his body relaxing in Yukimura's arms. "Because your arm..."

"It's not your fault."

Syusuke managed a smile. This time, his eyes closed for a few minutes before he opened them again, blinking. "I knew you would say that," he murmured to Yukimura's shirt.

"I'm so tired," he told them.

"Then sleep," Yukimura told him, firm and commanding. "But come back to me."

Syusuke's head dropped to Yukimura's chest, smiling.

Yukimura observed his serene smile. "You blocked the arrow with your arm." It wasn't a question.

"It wasn't enough. It still hit him."

"But not his heart."

"No."

Yukimura didn't really like this feeling, because well, he was supposed to hate Tezuka because Tezuka was a bastard and wasn't worth even the smallest part of Syusuke's time and affection. He couldn't very well hate Tezuka (and think of him as a bastard) when he'd saved his cousin's life. (Or maybe he could. Tezuka was the bastard who saved his cousin's life. He could deal with that.)

"So why did you think he was dead?"

Tezuka averted his gaze, almost embarrassed. "His heart stopped, so I thought..."

"It seems we know very little about Death Walkers." Yukimura smiled, affectionately tucking Syusuke's hair behind his ear.

"Ah."

Yukimura glanced at the fight against the Dead, watching closely, knowing just how little their odds were.

But knowing they will fight anyway.

"Thank you," he whispered grudgingly.

"Ah."

"I'll bring him to the infirmary. You?" He looked at Tezuka's left arm. (He wasn't worried, mind. It was just that... well, it was _bleeding_.)

"I'll fight. The arm is nothing."

"Your choice," he said, sinking down into the shadows with Syusuke.

Tezuka stayed behind, looking at the spot Yukimura and Syusuke had just occupied. He glanced at the fight going on outside the Academy, and he knew they will lose.

But Syusuke would be protected by Yukimura, he knew. And Syusuke would live.

Even if Tezuka wouldn't.

And it was enough.

_I __wish __you __happiness_, Tezuka told the empty spot, wishing he had given Syusuke something, anything so he would, at the very least, have something to hang on to when Tezuka wasn't there to show him anymore, just how much he was loved.

_I __wish __you __happiness_. He just wanted Syusuke to be happy, just happy, even if it wasn't in his arms. So he would do this one last sacrifice for Syusuke's happiness.

"_I'll live for you."_

"I love you, too," Tezuka said aloud, before he rushed onward, towards the fight he could never win.

* * *

><p>Clary: Go ahead, hit me. But please do it by reviewing. Reviews are inspiration~ (I will go and finish the last few scenes of the play now, so I will get on to writing Death Play faster, ne~~~)<p>

PS: Lia says hi~


	19. Short Story 3: What Could Have Been

**A LITTLE SHORT STORY NUMBAH THREE~**

Written by: Clary~

Dedicated to: Everyone who has reviewed and favorite-d and alerted and basically all the people who stuck with me despite my being a horrible writer~ Arigato, ne~~~~

**MUST READ BEFORE READING THIS SHORT STORY**: This is a dream of what could have been, had Ashikaga not existed, and therefore, not killed anyone. I just thought maybe I could write something happy once in a while~ Ehehe~

* * *

><p><strong>WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN <strong>_(Tezuka at eight, Syusuke at seven)_

* * *

><p>It took, on estimate, an entire week and a half to convince Tezuka to dress up for Halloween. Tezuka had told him, and very clearly, that in no terms was he ever going to play trick-or-treat, he wasn't a child anymore, and it was time he started acting like how not-children are supposed to be acting.<p>

Fuji, of course, did not believe the excuse. For one thing, Seiichi and Keigo were coming and they were on the same year as Tezuka. For another, Yumiko-nee had _arranged_ the entire thing (it wasn't so much arranging as it was threatening the teachers) _and_ she was coming _and_ she was _nine years older_ than Tezuka.

If there ever was a perfect example of a not-child, that was Yumiko-nee.

And even then, it still took an entire week and a half of asking, cajoling, begging, threatening, and pretending-sick (Yumiko-nee's idea) before Tezuka even budged.

But it was all worth it. Because Tezuka had agreed in the end.

(Yumiko-nee had _told_ him Tezuka would agree, with that weird sparkle that her eyes sometimes had when she talked about her precious little brother and darling little _Kunimitsu-kun_.)

So, come Halloween afternoon, he had bounced happily back in his room to dress up for trick-or-treating that night. He wished Yuuta was here. His cute little brother would have been perfect to play dress up with, and Fuji wouldn't have missed his embarrassed little face for the world. But Yuuta hadn't gotten the letter yet, so he was still back home, fuming. He was so cute when he fumed, too. Fuji made a mental note to take a picture the next time Yuuta threw a tantrum.

Of course, his entire festive mood disappeared when he got inside his room.

His nee-san was there, already dressed as a pretty necromancer. It was supposed to be a joke of sorts, them dressing as necromancers when they came from the Clan of Death, and they had taken many long weeks agonizing over the making of their matching outfits. Fuji had been so excited.

His costume had been hanging in front of his closet this morning, and Yumiko-nee was supposed to help him get in it for tonight. And she was here, ready to help with his costume, exactly as planned.

Except that it wasn't there anymore.

"Syusuke," Yumiko-nee greeted, with a brilliant, almost too-happy smile. "Due to an unforseen set of circumstances, your costume has, unfortunately, been lost, and therefore needs to be replaced."

Fuji watched, with horror, as she took out a glittering monstrosity from behind her back, grinning all the while. "Coincidentally, due to a completely separate unforseen set of circumstances, I happened to have a few things lying around, which I threw together-"

"No."

"No?" Yumiko-nee echoed, looking mildly amused.

"No."

"But, Syusuke, this is your nee-san's blood, sweat and tears!" Yumiko-nee exclaimed, complete with a set of tears Fuji _knew_ were fake. She should really try out for the drama club. That way, she'd make good use of her skills while leaving Fuji relatively safe from her... well, skills. "When I found out that your perfect Halloween was being threatened by the loss of a costume, I realized that I must take responsibility as your nee-san and I have worked _extremely_ hard for-"

"No."

"-I even got pricked once or twice, but I endured the pain because-"

"No, nee-san."

"-and my love for you!"

Okay, so flat-out refusing wasn't going to work. Next strategy: "I... I'm not feeling so good right now, nee-san, so maybe I could just-"

"Oh, don't be silly Syusuke, you're completely healthy! And even if you aren't Kunimitsu-kun will be there for you, ne?"

Fuji had to pause and wonder just exactly how Tezuka got into this conversation. Really, his nee-san confused him so much sometimes. But she was undergoing puberty, so he guessed that's why.

...Women.

./.

Tezuka was _not_ having a bad day.

He'd just had a teacher stupid enough to make more mistakes than he could count during Mathematics, that's all.

And said teacher just _had_ to ask to speak to him afterwards about his rudeness when all Tezuka had been doing was correcting his mistakes.

And Atobe Keigo _had_ to have and argument with Yukimura Seiichi on the same hour, leaving Tezuka as the only person to call them off. And he _had _to receive a good kick in the shin for his efforts.

Add to that the fact that he _had_ to dress up for the night for _Halloween_, of all things, because he couldn't just man up and say no to Fuji's wide blue eyes. Really, it was a good thing his friend kept them close for the most part, because had they been open all the time, then Tezuka would've had so much difficulty going through his normal life.

Because then, he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off of Fuji (no, bad thoughts go away, bad thoughts _go away_).

And when he got to his room, to (grudgingly) change into the costume generously provided by Yumiko-san, he _had_ to find out that it had been smartly replaced.

Tezuka stared at the costume hanging in his closet for a full five minutes, feeling very, very horrified.

...Okay scratch that. Tezuka _was_ having a bad day.

He closed his eyes, held his breath and counted to ten. Then he let out his breath, and started changing, because _damn it_, Tezuka Kunimitsu was a _man_.

Except, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he didn't feel very manly at all. He just looked silly. Was it even legal to _wear_ this? Tezuka was, technically underage, and too young for this. He looked down at the costume once again and bit his lip. He could already imagine how all the girls in class and their overactive imaginations would think of this.

Tezuka found himself cursing boys with wide, pretty blue eyes and cute, kicked-puppy-look faces.

And just as Tezuka was about to decide to just up and not go, a letter fluttered down from his bedstand, telling him that _she_ was expecting him around by seven, that he was in no way to be late, and outlining all the things she would make him do if any of her instructions were not followed to the letter.

So when Tezuka Kunimitsu got out of his room to hear the squeal of various other girls from his class, he found himself cursing manipulative, sadistic older sisters, too.

./.

When Tezuka knocked on Fuji's door, he heard two separate, conflicting shouts.

One that said, "Just a moment, Kunimitsu-kun," and that sounded pretty darn proud and satisfied, and another that said, "Just leave without me, Tezuka," and that sounded suspiciosuly desperate.

"Fuji?" he called, knocking once again, and getting a few thuds for an answer.

"Leave without me!" And this time, it sounded as close to a screech as Fuji's voice would get.

"Oh, don't be silly, Syusuke, Kunimitsu-kun could wait for a while, couldn't he?" Yumiko-san's voice. It was clear she was addressing Tezuka, so Tezuka took at look at his watch (six-forty) and said he had time. Besides, it wasn't as if Tezuka was eager to get to the lineup and show off his ridiculous self, anyway.

"No, he couldn't," Fuji answered at exactly the same time, his voice so shrill and high that even Tezuka was getting worried. He had never heard Fuji speak like that, in all their days together. Not even when he first met Fuji at three. "Tezuka has to leave right now."

"I heard Kunimitsu-kun, Syusuke, now stop wasting time and sit back down." Yumiko-san's voice was steely, and even Tezuka had to shudder. Sometimes, Tezuka thought that Fuji's slight sadism was an inborn family trait. Yumiko-san certainly made no qualms about hiding _her_ sadistic tendencies (if only to her brother and Tezuka, to everyone else, she was divine and compassionate as a goddess) and even Yukimura had shown slight sadism every now and then.

Really, compared to them, Fuji was as tame as an angel.

The next few (worrying) minutes consisted mostly of silence, broken every now and then by Fuji's plaintive voice that Tezuka had never (_ever_) chanced to hear before (and he would sell his soul to never _ever_ hear again). He sounded close to tears.

Tezuka knocked on the door again. "Fuji?"

"A moment, Kunimitsu-kun," Yumiko trilled. "One last touch."

And Fuji, who had, thus far, been utterly quiet apart from his occassional whimpers, started to shout again, in his still shrill, still desperate, still plaintive voice. "Oh no. No, no, no, _no, no, no_, Yumiko!"

"Syusuke, you're messing up your costume."

"No, _absolutely not._"

"This is the last-"

"_No!_ No flowers in my hair! _No flowers in my hair! Absolutely no flowers in my hair!_"

"Syu-chan-"

"_My name is not Syu-chan!_"

Tezuka heard a few distinct, worrying thumps. He knocked on the door again. "Fuji, are you oka-"

"_She's putting flowers on my hair!_"

"Yes, yes, Syusuke, I think we have that clear now. So, _stay put_."

"_I don't want flowers on my hair!_"

"Stop complaining, you know you look-"

"_Ridiculous!_"

"Syusuke, if you're not going to stop insulting my hard work, and killing my good mood, I swear you will be wearing this _every single day_ of next month."

Silence reigned from the other side of the closed door. Tezuka suddenly felt the need to thank the gods, whoever they may be, for making him an only child.

"There, all done!" was the only (cheerful) warning he got before the door slammed open to reveal Yumiko dressed as a necromancer...

And Fuji trying to hide behind her, sporting a huge blush, dressed in full bridal regalia.

Fuji spared him all of one glance, before his eyes retreated back to the floor, and his blush succeeded in getting redder.

"Oh my," Yumiko-san exclaimed, as if she had nothing to do with this, looking so very pleased with herself. "You match."

./.

After everything, Tezuka ended up not going with the trick-or-treat lineup, after all.

It had only taken one second, a fleeting moment when Yumiko-san's attention had not been focused on them, and Fuji had his hand tight around Tezuka's, and had dragged him in a fast run across the campus to the deserted playground. How Fuji was able to run like that with his full skirts and heels, Tezuka will never know.

"-sorry, wretched excuse for an older sister!" Fuji ranted, trying to catch his breath and he let go of Tezuka's hand.

Tezuka, panting and gasping, tried his best to smile. "It's not that bad," he tried to assure his best friend.

Fuji gave him a look that meant to say that he obviously did not believe Tezuka at all. Tezuka took in their costumes, him in a tux, and Fuji in a bridal gown, and sighed. "It could be worse."

Fuji closed his eyes and smiled. "You mean I could be wearing a sheer pink lingerie and you could be wearing boxers?"

Tezuka choked on his breath. Where did Fuji get that... He wasn't even _aware_ Fuji had those words in his vocabulary. He was only seven years old! (Then again, Fuji had Yumiko-san for an older sister.)

Fuji patted his back and laughed his little tinkling laugh good-humoredly. "Joking. I was only joking, Tezuka."

Well, at least he was happy now.

"I'm glad," he managed out of two deep breaths. "That you're having fun at my expense."

Fuji shrugged. "Yumiko-nee's having fun at both our expenses," he replied, fingering the tulle that was stuck to his hair by a small crown.

Tezuka had to agree with that. He wondered how Fuji survived living with her for the past seven years.

Fuji started stripping his hair off of flowers. They were white roses, petals in full bloom, and their unique scent wafted around them both as Fuji plucked off the last one and held them all in his hand.

"Since we're currently in exile for the night," Fuji started, already making his way to the swings. "Let's make the best of it, ne?"

"Ah," Tezuka answered, settling down beside Fuji as he started pushing himself off of the ground.

Tezuka watched as Fuji sailed in the air happily, his skirts fluttering, his veil trailing after him in the air. Under the moonlight, his dress glittered prettily, showing off his small body. The dress hugged in places that seemed uncomfortable, but looked beautiful on Fuji. His softly made-up face caught the silver light perfectly, accentuating his feminine features. Yumiko may be sadistic, but she was quite good at what she did.

It helped, of course, that right now, Fuji didn't look as disgruntled as he was fifteen minutes ago.

Fuji's touch cut him off of his thoughts. His friend was smiling at him, blue eyes glittering, face so close, Tezuka's heart had to skip many beats.

Fuji put the roses on his lap. "Tezuka, I know you don't want to hear this right now, but..." Fuji bit his lip, looking conflicted for a long moment. Then he shook his head and smiled again. "You look handsome."

Tezuka couldn't stop the blush even if he wanted to.

And before Fuji could pull away (before he lost his courage), Tezuka took one rose, and tucked it behind his friend's ear.

And he smiled. "You look beautiful."

Fuji pulled away and blushed, as well. And when he finally felt like he wasn't going to turn into a stumbling, stuttering mess, he looked back at Tezuka and tentatively gave him a small, shy smile.

Tezuka gave him a small, shy smile back.

And of course, Yumiko had to ruin the moment by popping out from the bushes and taking picture after picture after picture.

While Fuji was trying to shrink discreetly away from the camera lights, he saw Yumiko-nee giving him a thumbs up that meant that this, too, had been all part of the plan.

./.

Yumiko folded up the dress she had bought, and placed it back in its box. It was expensive as hell, and so was its counterpart (already carefully folded and wrapped up, too), but it was worth every single penny (Mother would be _squealing_ once she saw the pictures, she was sure).

Syusuke, however, was looking at her with a thunderous scowl and glaring daggers at the dress in her hands.

"Now, now, Syu-chan, you know you enjoyed the dress."

The glare intensified.

She chuckled again. "I'll have to remember to take this and sew it to the lining of your wedding dress when you get married." She glanced at her precious little brother. "Sentimental reasons, you know."

That got his attention. "Why would I be wearing a dress when I get married?"

"Why," she laughed, sealing the box and protectively cuddling it to her chest. "That's because you'll be marrying Kunimitsu-kun."

And as cute as her brother was when he scowled, he was so much more precious like this.

Blushing and stuttering like a cute little newly-wed bride.

* * *

><p>Clary: Yes, things could have been so much more simpler and happier if Ashikaga didn't exist. (; But where's the fun in that?<p>

Don't worry, the next chapter's already in the works~~~ (Though I still have to finish a play... –sigh-) But I'm sure it'll be done before New Year~ Think of it as a belated Christmas gift and look forward to it, ne~

Lia's still busy with the play, but she sends her love to all of you~ (She is starting to sound like an old lady. I guess it's the setting of the play. Well, it's not MY fault, they were the ones who wanted kingdoms and lords and ladies and kings and queens and shiz.)


	20. XVII The Clan of Death

Clary: In my defense, I would like to say that I had planned to write this chapter while counting down to New Year. But somehow, I got sucked up to playing cards by Lia. She is bad influence. (Be warned)

Lia: We were just playing. You could have ignored us and wrote.

Clary: How could I ignore Texas Hold'Em? I LOVE POKER.

Lia: Obviously, the feeling is not mutual.

Clary: It's NOT MY FAULT. (sticks out tongue) Lia and her family are poker fiends. Especially Elle. And Lia. They hog all the chips, the bitches. How can you be so extremely lucky?

Lia: We just know how to play and keep our feelings to ourselves when we get bad cards. Unlike SOME PEOPLE who whine right away.

Clary: (Fuck you, Lia.) But here's the chapter everyone~ I hope you enjoy it, it took me a long long long long long long long time trying to figure out how to write this (especially the first scene) but it just kinda fell out of my fingers~~~ So~~~

Enjoy~

Oh, but before that:

**Some notes for this chapter:**

~ Soushu-sama is typically what the Japanese would call the head of a respectable or highly-influential clan. (We should have placed this back in Blood and Shadows I, when the term was first introduced, but we kinda forgot, so~) Fuji Soushu means the head of the Fuji clan. We don't know Fuji's father's name, and Issa (CLARY) really didn't feel up to making one, so we just call him that :)

~ Necromancers are those people who deal with the art or the magic of communicating and raising up the dead for the purpose of divination (knowing the future). Since the Fujis walk in Death, it's almost safe to assume that they know about necromancy, though they don't neccesarily use it. They focus more on keeping the dead people dead, but they _have_ the power to bring them back to life. That's main difference between the real necromancers and the Fujis. However, it can also be said that in this story, necromancy involces so much more than raising up the dead for future-telling (Morto, zombie army, revenge).

~ Bells are common tools for necromancers, along with talismans, magic circles and wands. YES, when Morto was being raised up from the dead on the chapter of Morto, THAT was a sort-of necromancer ritual. (Issa didn't feel like researching how it was supposed to look like and Lia sort-of approved of how it went, anyway, so we really didn't bother anymore) The bells are NOT OURS and there will be more of them in the next chapter, so look forward to them, kay ;)

Okie-dokie, that's all for notes :)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (the poker queen), Alatarielf (thank you SO MUCH, you always inspire us with your words~ Lia says hi and she misses you, too. Our director is becoming bitchier and bitchier every single passing day), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (maa~ thank you, thank you, thank you~~), lemon-and-chai (we're sorry about not updating sooner~ And we know it's too late for it, but here's your Christmas present :)), animangadeek0624 (that is NOT a crappy review AT ALL~~ we're so glad you like the story, and how Chizuru died will be revealed next chapter~ look forward to it till then, kay?), phoenixfirekitsune (we're glad Syusuke's still alive, too~ we tried to update as fast as we can, so enjoy, ne?)

* * *

><p><strong>XVII. THE CLAN OF DEATH<strong>

* * *

><p>He felt the death like a particularly sharp tug from another end of a long string. He'd always been able to feel death because he himself had walked in its waters. Always, almost all the time, at the back of his mind, he felt the snuffing of life and its entrance into Death's waters.<p>

He'd learned not to mind.

But to those people he cared about, to those people who he loved... He was more sensitive to them. Like they were tied to him in the way that it _hurt_, physically, when they died. Just like how it went with the Tezuka family. And maybe, with his own family, too, though he was too young to remember.

It was hurting now. And he couldn't remember exactly when breathing became so, so hard.

Why now?

_Why?_

Why, of all people, why did it have to be _her?_

He saw her soul splash into the still-wild waters of death, eagerly claiming her, eagerly dragging her off to the Ninth Gate, where he couldn't see her anymore, where he couldn't tell her he was sorry, where he couldn't tell her how much it hurt him that she loved him and he didn't have the strength to love her back.

_She couldn't really be dead_.

And before he knew it, he was splashing after her, away from life once again, knowing just how dangerous it all was, how very close his body was to giving up, but not caring.

"Meiko!" His shout was drowned out but the noise of the waters, but he prayed she could hear. He had to... He had to... He _didn't know_ why, but he had to get her. Maybe, just maybe he could reach her before she passed the First Gate, and he could bring her back, he could save her and then... And then...

He still wouldn't love her, not the way he did Kunimitsu.

But he knew he had to _try_. He can't just let her _die_, not after... not after...

"_I'll come back for you."_

"Meiko!" He bit back tears as he thrust his hand out, reaching for her the way she has been reaching for him these past few years. It seemed so ironic that the one time he reached _back_, it was all too late.

Like how he was too late to save his adoptive parents. Like how it was too late that he found out who he truly was. Like how he had accepted Kunimitsu's love too late. Like how he confessed his own love too late.

He was always too late.

Her hand was so cold now, so different from her usual warm hugs. He sucked in a sharp breath.

Her eyes were huge and wide, as she looked up to stare at him, but she did nothing to fight the current still. Syusuke tightened his grip.

She gave him a small smile that was more than a little sad. "I guess... this is Death, huh?"

Syusuke was too busy choking back tears to reply.

Meiko's smile widened as she wrestled against the water to work herself into a sitting position, at the very least. She squeezed the hand that was holding hers. "It's okay," she said soothingly, patting Syusuke's trembling hand gently.

Meiko was always comforting him. Even before, in life, every single time, though he knew how much it must have hurt her, too, to be with him, knowing all along that he couldn't love her.

For a moment, he was taken back to the time when he'd, to the best of his abilities, tried to reject her. When she told him how _good_ he was when he'd just taken and broken her heart. When she said it was okay, she wouldn't stop. That she'll keep on trying because he was worth it. That she loved him and someday, someday he'll love her, too.

"Meiko," he whispered brokenly. (_"I love you Syusuke. And I won't stop trying until you'll love me, too. I know someday you will."_) "I love you."

Meiko kept on patting the hand, but she averted her gaze. "But not in the way I want you to."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, for the second time. "It's okay." This time, the assurance was for herself. "It's... time I gave up, I guess."

Syusuke's grip on her hand tightened even more.

"_I'll come back for you."_

"No, Meiko! I..." (_"I'll come back for you."_) "I can still..." Frustrated tears were running down his face. (_"I'll come back for you."_) "I can save you. I can... I can..."

"Syusuke," she whispered as gently as he could. "It's too late."

Too late.

_Too late._

He suddenly became aware of his surroundings. The misty fog, the calmer, clearer waters, the steadier ground underneath his feet.

They had passed the First Gate.

_Too late_.

Once again.

(_"I'll come back for you."_)

"It's okay," she crooned, patting his hands again. "It'll be okay."

But Meiko didn't know, she just didn't _know_. She didn't know about his real family, about his adoptive family, about everyone he had been too late to save. Everyone he could have saved, and he didn't care if he was too young then, he _could have saved them_, but he wasn't able to. Because he was too late.

And now, she was one of them.

"Meiko, I... I'm so..."

"Sorry? Syusuke, it's my own fault." Here, she gave a soft, bitter laugh. "I was a bit too careless and more than a little arrogant. It had nothing to do with you. It's just like you to try to take the blame for everything." She gave a fond smile. "That's one of the reasons why I love you."

"I love you, too," he said again, resignedly this time.

"I know," she replied. "But there is someone else you love more than me. And I want you to be happy, okay?" She caught Syusuke's beautiful blue gaze and held it. "I'm giving you up to whoever it is that you love, so you better be happy." She reached up and patted his face with a smile that was starting to hurt. "Because you'll be happy for me, too."

"Meiko..." Syusuke shook his head, and held the hand she had placed on his cheek. "You are the most selfless person I know."

She smiled wryly. "I doubt that." With a last burst of strength, she pulled herself up to her full height and brought her face closer to Syusuke's.

Everything about him was in perfect clarity. His twinkling blue eyes, too wise to be a child's but too innocent to be anything else. His heart-shaped face framed by hair the color of honey and caramel. His petal-like, kissable lips.

He was so beautiful. And he'll never be hers, not anymore. But... "Allow me this," she said, before she captured his lips in what would have been their romantic first kiss that she'd always dreamed of.

She closed her eyes, and took one moment to feel everything. She wanted to commit this all to her memory, so she'll have something, at the very least, to carry with her to death.

And then it was over, and she pushed him away, as the river waters engulfed her once more. There was pain again, more now than before, but she bore it silently. She touched her lips and remembered the kiss and smiled. "I can be selfish, too," she said softly, wondering who she was telling that to.

./.

Somewhere by the eve of the Fourth Gate, Meiko's pain was taken away by a man with white hands and glittering blue eyes.

She had been unconscious then, but he still felt her pain, so he reached out, touched her forehead and took it away. Then he let go and watched her float away.

"My thanks," he murmured softly, running his hand through honey-brown locks. "For the love you have given him."

He looked at his companions, who had all stopped when he did, and offered an assuring smile. There were two women with him, and a young boy. Both women smiled at the Fourth Gate as it roared to acknowledge the passing of a soul.

The older of the two women tilted her head in the direction of the younger. "Our would-have-been daughter-in-law?" she asked.

The younger's smile widened, before she shook her head. "No." Her gaze wandered before it settled on the direction of the previous Gates. "He loves someone else."

"Does he?" It was the boy who spoke this time, his grey-blue eyes flashing. "It's a wonder that anyone could love that idiot that much."

"Ah, but _you_ love him, too, don't you?" The younger woman teased, which earned her a sputtering grimace from the boy.

The older woman smiled fondly. "We all do."

The man spared a smile, before resuming his walk once again. "Come, let us not tarry any longer." He looked back, let his gaze settle on each one of his companions, before turning back to the direction of the Third Gate. "He has been kept waiting long enough."

The older woman's smile grew sad, and there was longing in both her eyes and voice when she spoke again.

"So have we."

./.

Yukimura felt it when Syusuke's heart stopped. Again.

This time he _refused_, absolutely _refused_ to panic. Syusuke's heart stopped because he had entered Death. _That was all_, he told himself firmly, as they arrived in an empty infirmary.

_Empty_.

He tried to keep a hold on his anger and succeeded somewhat. Even then, he had a hard time not lashing out as he laid Syusuke down on the bed and glanced around, trying to make out where he could go.

He peeled off Syusuke's uniform, by then so saturated with blood that Yukimura's heart skipped a beat.

He did what first-aid he could with the materials he could find, and dressed Syusuke's wound with bandages that became soaked with more crimson liquid as fast as he put them in place.

He was breathing through his mouth now, and his heart had dropped to his stomach a long time ago.

He wished Syusuke's heart would start beating once again. He held his cousin's hands and wished.

It took him a long time to be aware of another presence in the infirmary.

"Yukimura-kun."

Yukimura turned around to meet Persona's distinctly displeased scowl. He was leaning against the doorframe of the infirmary, his arms folded against his chest, trying to look casual, and failing.

He was obviously seething mad.

"Persona-"

"What do _you_ think you're doing _here_?" Persona hissed, the corners of his mouth dipping down further.

"Persona-"

"This is _not_ where you are supposed to be!"

Yukimura looked back down at his cousin, still without a heartbeat, still hovering on the fine line between life and death.

"You told me to keep him alive," he said quietly, tightening his hold, trying to buy more time to spend with Syusuke. When it got down to it, he still couldn't refuse Persona's direct order. He would only succeed in angering him, and Persona might take his anger out on Syusuke.

And he couldn't let that happen.

"He's not going to be alive much longer if you stay here, Yukimura-kun."

There was something twisted in his tone, and his smile, and Yukimura watched as his nails dug into the doorframe. The wood crumbled.

"Give me one moment," he said, turning back to Syusuke, checking his temperature (_freezing cold_) and his heartbeat (_still none_).

"Wake up for me," he whispered urgently to Syusuke's unresponsive form. "Please, Syusuke. No matter what happens, even though..." He had to pause to keep from crying. It didn't do good to cry in front of Persona. Especially not in front of Persona.

He glanced at the head of the Dangerous Ability Types by the door once again, and Persona responded by jerking his head sharply to the direction of the front Academy gates. He still had his scowl.

He sucked in a huge breath. "Even though I won't be here when you... Just... Wake up for me, okay?" He said it all on one breath so he wouldn't be able to let a sob escape his tight, measured control.

"Always remember," he said, his hand drifting to his cousin's chest. Still no heartbeat. "I love you. I always will. So, wake up and..." He bent down to kiss Syusuke's forehead. "Be brave for me."

./.

Syusuke woke up to a nightmare.

Seiichi was kissing his forehead in a way that would have been soothing, had he not been saying things that didn't make any sense.

"Be brave for me."

Syusuke didn't understand. Why was he saying these things? Why now? It was as if... As if...

And then Seiichi was pulling away, going away from him to some unknown fight from which he might never return.

(_"Be brave for okaa-san, okay?"_)

"_Be brave for me."_

No.

No, the last time someone said that, the last time he heard that from his true mother, she never came back.

She had died. Along with the rest of his family.

"_Be brave for me." _(_"Be brave for okaa-san, okay?"_)

"_I'll come back for you."_

"_Syusuke, it's too late."_

He can't lose anyone else.

"Seiichi!" His voice was shrill and it hurt his throat to use it like that, and it hurt more when he sat up quickly, a searing, almost-unbearable pain in his back but he didn't care. He _didn't care_ because Seiichi didn't hear him, and Seiichi was still_ going away_.

Seiichi _can't be going away_!

"Seiichi, don't leave!"

Seiichi turned around, eyes widening impossibly. "Syusuke-"

"Don't leave!" he said frantically, ignoring the pain, ignoring anything else, because nothing was more important than... than not losing anyone else. "Please!"

Seiichi was smiling. "I'm glad you're awake."

"Don't leave!"

Seiichi crossed what distance he had been able to make between the two of them and engulfed him in a warm hug. "I have to go." And his tone was firm. "Everyone else is fighting out there-" (_Oh God, was Kunimitsu out there, too? And Keigo and Senri and Kuranosuke and everyone?_) "-so I have to help."

(Meiko died fighting out there.)

"_Syusuke, it's too late."_

Seiichi moved to go again, to leave again and desperately, Syusuke clutched at his hands.

"Syusuke." Seiichi sounded exasperated, but he didn't care.

"Please," he said, his voice becoming hoarse and rough but he didn't stop. He needed to get this out. He _needed_ to. "Take... take care of each other and come back, okay?"

"Syusuke."

"Okay?" he demanded, voice rising to a higher octave.

Seiichi managed a smile Syusuke knew was fake. "Promise."

"_I'll come back for you. I promise."_

"Don't promise," he said firmly. "Do it."

Seiichi smiled again, and patted his hand. (_Meiko patted his hand, too, just like that, crooning, "It'll be okay," when she knew it wouldn't._) He felt like a child.

"Be well, Syusuke."

And Seiichi was going away to an uncertain fate, to the place, to the battle that killed Meiko. And Syusuke couldn't do anything to stop him.

He was so _helpless_. He was watching Seiichi walk up to his death, knowing everyone else that he had ever loved were there, too, battling with death, and they were going to lose just like Meiko, and he wouldn't be able to save them, because he would be too late and all he would be able to do was cry and tell them how very sorry he was because he was so very weak, just like what happened with Meiko.

And his last conversation with Kunimitsu had been an argument. And before that, he had run away.

He never even got to tell Kunimitsu just how much he loved him.

_Kunimitsu, I love you_.

He didn't notice Persona, so lost was he in his grief, until the black nails embedded themselves on his bed.

He looked up slowly to find Persona's pleasantly smiling face.

"Hello, Syusuke-kun," he greeted.

"Persona. I'm sorry, I-"

Persona patted his head amicably. "Oh, don't worry, Syusuke-kun, I expected that." His gaze drifted to the window. "I wanted you to buy time. Holding off Ashikaga completely had been a long shot from the very beginning."

"But... But I still..."

"I said, _it's okay_." And finally, finally, Syusuke could see just exactly _why_ Kunimitsu and the others were afraid of this man.

"You know," he said, making sure to say this very slowly so the Fuji kid got every word. "Yukimura-kun did mean it when he said everyone was out there. Your Kunimitsu, the Atobe kid, the Chitose kid, the Shiraishi kid, even the Kisaragi girl."

"She's dead," he said flatly, averting his gaze from Persona's piercing eyes. His heart ached.

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Persona was unfazed by the new knowledge, choosing only to clutch Syusuke's chin and bring the eyes back to his own. "I did tell you. They'll be fighting a battle they can never hope to win."

There was something in the way Persona said that, something in the words he chose to say, something in the way he wanted Syusuke to look him in the eyes...

Persona knew how to save them. Persona knew how _he_ could save them.

Syusuke's resolve firmed. "Tell me what to do."

./.

Really, it had all been too _easy_.

He almost felt sad. He'd expected it to go like this, anyhow. All he had to say, after all, was that everyone the kid cared about was out there and fighting.

Even the Yukimura kid breaking orders and staying with the Fuji kid had worked wonders to his advantage. (Even though he had to stay and watch their family drama. Ugh, people with _feelings... _They made him _sick_.)

See, Persona was always really lucky. He almost felt like patting himself on the back. Almost, but not quite.

Still, he had to indulge himself from time to time.

Ashikaga must be thinking he had won now.

It would be so heart-stoppingly brilliant when Persona would wrestle the victory from his grasp, and when he had been so close, too. Persona could only imagine the look in his eyes. God, he'd pay big money to be able to see it.

All in all, things were going exactly as planned and Persona couldn't have been more pleased.

And, had Fuji Syusuke been looking, had he been watching Persona, he would have seen a chilling smile settle itself into his cold face.

But of course he wouldn't see it.

Persona had to lean against the closed infirmary door and sigh for a moment at such a great loss.

Fuji Syusuke, after all, was too busy dying.

./.

Their blue eyes glittered as they felt the movement, the transition between life and death.

The older woman couldn't resist holding onto the man in joy, tears spilling from her face. "He's coming."

_At last._

./.

The first thing that happened when he entered Death was that Syusuke was suddenly engulfed in a warm, familiar, comforting hug.

It didn't sit right with him, because Death wasn't warm, dead creatures don't hug non-dead people, and he certainly wasn't supposed to be familiar with dead creatures. Not after one had tried to kill him and drag him (and all the people he loved with him) to true death.

But for some strange reason, he couldn't pull away. And after a brief unsure moment, he tentatively reached out his arms and wound them around the person, returning the hug.

"_Syusuke_," she said fiercely, and Syusuke turned his head to meet a familiar blue gaze.

(_"I'll come back for you."_)

His heart stopped for a moment as he greedily drank in her face, her scent, her warmth. Then it sputtered against his chest, and _soared_.

He tightened his grip and buried his head in her neck the way he used to do with his adoptive mother when he was little.

It was as if every shattered piece of his heart had fallen back into place, as if all the pieces of a puzzle he could never complete had finally fit together and he was not half-empty anymore. "_Okaa-san_," he sobbed, belatedly realizing how he was gasping and shaking and crying in her arms.

And she said "_Syusuke_," once again the way she did the first time, and Syusuke's heart lifted up a bit more.

"Mou," a different voice cut in, snapping Syusuke out of his happy haze. He raised his head to find another pair of blue eyes.

He couldn't believe how much he missed her, even though he'd seen her probably only a few moments ago. "Nee-san," he choked out from his mother's embrace.

"Okaa-san, that's unfair," she chided, though her eyes were shining happily. "I want to be all lovey-dovey with Syusuke, too." She gave him a conspiratorial wink. "Since, you know, Kunimitsu-kun isn't here and everything."

Syusuke actually blushed.

He ducked his head and buried himself deeper to his mother's warmth.

"Baka aniki." It was another voice and Syusuke looked up in surprise to find a boy, at the most, probably a year younger than him. He had blue eyes that bordered on grey, cropped brown hair, and was looking at him, currently, with a huge scowl. He didn't have Syusuke's almost unearthly blue eyes, or Syusuke's feminine build, he didn't look the remotest bit like Syusuke at all, but he was the cutest boy Syusuke had ever seen.

_He said aniki_.

(_"You'll have a little brother soon enough, and he'll be perfect, just like you."_)

That was his little brother. And okaa-san was right. He was perfect.

"Yuuta," he greeted (choked-sobbed), and his younger brother cutely turned red and looked away. Syusuke grinned.

And then, the last voice. The smooth chuckle. Syusuke turned his head again, and met an older version of himself.

The same blue eyes. The same honeyed hair. The same smile.

This was his father.

(_"My pride, my son and my heir."_)

"Hello, Syusuke."

"Father..."

But before he could finish, his mother had stiffened against him, and his father, as well as Yumiko and Yuuta had all tensed and faced the First Gate.

"A family reunion," a much, much colder voice greeted. "How quaint. You actually held on to life just to see your only living son die? I'm disappointed in you, Soushu-sama." His tone dripped with sarcasm.

"One way or another," his father said in a voice so strong, the raging waters of Death actually _calmed_. "This will be the end."

"Certainly," said the voice that could only have belonged to Ashikaga. "Today, I will see the end of your miserable clan."

And then Death suddenly became darker. He was still in his mother's embrace, and she instinctively tightened her hold on him.

"_Felicitations from me to you, the last Fuji Soushu. It pains me to know that it was not I who ended you."_ Another voice that sounded like rock grating against rock. It hurt Syusuke's ears to even listen to it, and he chanced a glance towards the direction of the voice, when his mother had loosened her hold somewhat.

There was Ashikaga, too far away to really make out. And... Morto.

A vast mountain of endless black shadows, with red pits for eyes. His form twisted and gurgled and at times, Syusuke could swear he saw twisted mouths coming out of the form, screaming out for help. Syusuke shuddered.

"Is _that_ the last Fuji, Yoshiko?" Ashikaga was asking, pointing straight at him and his mother. "Your first son you've worked so hard to protect?"

His mother's only answer was to tighten her hold on him again.

But Syusuke could still see. And this time, though he was far away, he saw Ashikaga's cruel smile clearly. And he knew that smile was meant for him.

"You won't be able to protect him much longer."

This was the man who had killed his family, who had wrestled from him his chance, his _right_ to have them, to be happy with them, to grow up with them. This was the man who had killed Seiichi's family, who had brought Seiichi to that unfeeling state of depression. This was the man that had killed Syusuke's second family, who had erased the happiness from Kunimitsu's eyes. This was the man who was the reason why he and Kunimitsu and Seiichi could never properly become whole again. And this was the man who now, once again, threatened everything he held dear.

He was the reason why Meiko was dead, why Kunimitsu and Seiichi and the others were probably dying now.

Gently, Syusuke released himself from his mother's grasp, and stood facing the enemy. He wasn't going to be scared anymore. He was going to do this for his family, and Seiichi and Seiichi's family, and Kunimitsu and his second family, and everyone that had ever mattered to him, fighting for their lives back in life.

His vision went red.

"Hello, pretty Syusuke, it's nice to finally meet you." Ashikaga's tone was mocking. "My first and last miscalculation."

Syusuke narrowed his eyes.

(_Every necromancer, every powerful being that has dealed with Death knows of the bells. They are the single, most powerful weapons in Death. And the Fuji family is as powerful as they come. Remember that, Syusuke._)

"You know, darling Syusuke, when I decided to destroy your clan many years ago," he paused to give him an arrogant smirk. "I meant it. And I never make the same mistake twice."

(_There are seven bells, seven bells you could use, to command a soul completely. Completely._)

In Syusuke's mind, all seven bells came in sharp focus.

(_All you need to do was call them to you. Once you have them in your hands, every soul in Death would obey whatever you command. You will be the most powerful._)

"Today, you, Syusuke-kun, and your pitiful little clan-" Morto was moving, twisting and thrashing in a speed that would have surprised anyone but a Fuji. "Dies."

(_Seven bells, Syusuke. Seven rings of an ultimate command._)

Fuji had looked at Death in the eye and cowered at his power far too many times.

(_You will become Death's master, as is your right, as a Fuji_.)

He was powerful here. He was strong here. He wasn't weak here, and he would be able to save everyone. Because he was a Fuji. And because he was a Fuji...

"I will kill you," he declared steely, as the waters in Death raged at his command, and the fight in Death finally commenced.

* * *

><p>Clary: Well, that's it for this chapter~ The next chapter will probably take longer coz we hafta go back to school and everything :( Christmas break's over.<p>

Lia: And things will be quite hectic for the play, so we apologize ahead of time.

Clary: WE HAVE A BITCHY DIRECTOR. She is a dictator and a bitch and she says 'everyone must all work in one way or another' and glares directly at ME, when I'VE FINISHED HER GODDAMN SCRIPT ALREADY. So I went, okay, so why exactly aren't YOU working? And then she gave a long, long speech about her own self-importance, the bitch. She is a fascist pig. And Lia, don't you DARE defend her coz I know you hate her as much as I do.

Lia: Don't say that.

Clary: Why not? YOU KNOW I'm right.

Lia: I hate her so much more than you do.

Clary: Oooooohhhh~~~ I like the way you think Lia~~~ (LOVES YOU SO MUCH)

Please review and do tell us what you think of this chapter~ They are good inspiration~~~


	21. XVIII Death Play

Clary: Um. Yeah. We haven't updated in over a quarter of a year. And yeah. We're so sorry. It's just that shit happens sometimes, you know? And sometimes, it's a whole lot of shit. I can't tell you guys what coz I've been sworn into secrecy, so let's just say, I'm so happy to be back with LIA~~~ Yey~~~ -hearts- Say hi, Lia!

Lia: I actually wouldn't be surprised if none of you guys read this story anymore. We have bad update habits, after all.

Clary: BUT WE LOVE YOU GUYS EVEN THOUGH WE'RE BAD AT SHOWING IT! Jeez, Lia. I just asked you to SAY HI. And even though I agree with you, if you guys read this I want you to know that you guys have my heartfelt thanks and –sniff- oh my God, I think I'm gonna cry.

Lia: Please excuse her. She's been riding quite the emotional roller coaster these past few months, or so I've heard.

Clary: It's a bad ride. There weren't even seatbelts and it was expensive as hell.

Lia: Uh-huh. Sure. So we won't keep you. Thank you for being so ever patient with us.

Clary: This isn't one of my better chapters, but enjoy! :)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (-Clary not allowed to say anything-), Alatarielf (thank you SO, SO MUCH, Clary actually calmed down a bit after you got her into researching and now she loves you... we hope you like this chapter :)), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (Golden pair.. Just so you know, Lia, I call dibs on Eiji! And we hope the beginning of 2012 treated you well, too :)), lemon-and-chai (maa, we totally agree with you~ waii~~ as for the deaths... our lips are sealed, kay? –wink-), phoenixfirekitsune (he deserves it, ne? We hope you like the fight, even though it's a completely fail one, we think.. ahaha :)), animangadeek0624 (-le gasp- oh my gosh, I use researching as a cover story to read fanfiction, too~~~ my soul mate~~ -hearts hearts- we hope you enjoy!)

* * *

><p><strong>XVIII. DEATH PLAY<strong>

* * *

><p><em>It was her million and first entrance to Death, no different from her first time, except that now she wasn't grieving (lie), and she wasn't hysterical. She couldn't count the number of times she'd been as far to the Ninth Gate, exactly, it wasn't her most favorite of places in Death, and it likely never will.<em>

_Still, she'd have to commend those brats that they actually got her into Death this far. _

_And like always, she found her gaze riveted to the opening of the Ninth Gate, in an almost futile attempt to see... _something.

_A stretch of waxed, dolled up hair maybe, or a glint of chestnut eyes, whatever, something, anything. And like always, just as she had expected, she found none._

_Her parents had died more than a century ago, anyway. They wouldn't be waiting for her, and she wouldn't ever see them. _

_Not when _they're_ dead and she... she _could not die_._

_(But at least she got them the justice they deserved... She still remembered that beautiful, wonderful, wonderful rush of adrenalin and how she had stood, at the end of the carnage, untouched and not a hair out of place, wiping a stray drop of blood from her cheek, how she had killed herself and watched all of them pass through the Ninth Gate to whatever hellhole they deserved to rot in and how she shouted at the Ninth Gate, telling her parents that see, she had avenged them, after all.)_

_She paid a steep price for that justice, but it was a price she had (and still did) willingly paid._

_When she turned away from the mouth of the last gate of Death, it was to find two gems of cerulean trained into her form._

_He was watching her silently, unmoved by the waters of Death, and though he was getting paler and paler by the minute, his soul's strength was not waning in the slightest. _

_She smiled wryly. "I see you're not dead."_

_His reply was to shrug, a slight movement of his slight shoulders. He looked torn for a moment before his face broke into a small, shy smile that reminded her, once again, of why she had hesitated to bring about his death._

_Because despite the smile, his eyes spoke of the same pain hers did. _

_He blinked, and she couldn't help but notice how his long lashes were caked with flakes of wet snow. It was always snowing in the area that led up to the Ninth Gate, she didn't know why, but it was perhaps the same reason why whirlpools dotted the river at the Eighth Gate, and why the Fouth Gate was preceded by a waterfall._

_She could never understand Death._

"_You're sad, do you know?" the boy was saying, tilting his head endearingly to the side. "But that's okay. I lost my Mother and my Father, too."_

_Her eyes narrowed. Not once has she mentioned... But then again, he was friends with the shadow-wielder sadist. "Your shadow-friend told you, did he?"_

_His smile widened. "No." He began walking towards the Ninth Gate and a misty fog started to cover the opening. "But he didn't really need to. We orphans tend to recognize each other."_

_It was the infinite sadness in their eyes that told their tale, but could only be recognized by someone bearing the same sadness._

_She did not reply. But it seemed he didn't need any to continue._

"_My parents... died in a war too.. Or I guess you could call it that." He shot her another smile. "I never really knew them, and I remember very little. But that's okay, too." He reached out a hand to the murky veil that had covered the gate's opening. "I know I'll be with them soon."_

_Of course he would. He was mortal and Ashikaga-san was practically seething for him to die already (actually, now that she was in on it, _she_ was supposed to kill him... oh well). But she was immortal and _that_ meant that no matter how hard she fucking tried, she'll still be stuck back out here in life._

_Besides, no matter how lucky he was now (strange, she thought she aimed perfectly), he would end up dead one way or another. He was fighting for the wrong side. _

_She knew, more than anyone, the consequences of fighting for the wrong side. _

_Like her parents, and his, you ended up dead._

_(Nevermind that all she had wanted after she avenged her parents was to die herself.)_

_He was watching her with his wide blue eyes, with his caked-with-snowflakes lashes, watching her with a gaze that was curious, but that seemed to see _through _her._

"_You want to die." _

_She didn't answer, but then he hadn't really been asking a question._

_Was she that obvious?_

"_I can't die." And that, too, was a fact._

"_Everyone can," he was shrugging again. "It's just a little harder for others."_

_Her smile was wry again, because she was remembering all the times she wanted to get herself killed, all the times she tried, and all the times she had (obviously) failed. "Really."_

"_You forget who I am."_

_The scion of The Clan of Death who Ashi... She sucked in a sharp breath. The _scion_ of the Clan of Death. _The Clan of Death._ If there was anyone, _anyone_, who could grant her the one thing she had always wanted, it was him. Only he could, she realized, because he was the last of his kind._

_She didn't realize she was stumbling through Death's waters to him, until he was close enough to touch._

_He was smiling again. "You want to die."_

_It wasn't a question. But... but... just in case... "Yes," she said breathlessly, clutching his shoulders so tightly it must have hurt. _

_If it did, he said nothing. "Can I ask you something, though?"_

_She nodded, unsuspecting and uncaring. _

"_Smile, okay?"_

_She gave him the happiest, most brilliant smile she had ever given out in ages._

"_I'm happy," she told him, being, for the first time in a long time, completely honest._

"_Then I'm glad."_

_She heard the soft, smooth tinkling of what was undoubtedly a bell, and her soul, as if in response, relaxed. She felt free._

_And as she passed through the barrier she had never been able to pass, she turned back around to smile at the boy that had given her the true desire of her heart. He was waving, his pale figure barely visible against the bleak background. _

_Her smile widened, committing him to memory before she turned and felt herself be enveloped in the warm, familiar hug she had missed so much, the one she had longed for, for more than just a couple of years. _

_And on her million and first trip to Death, Maihara Chizuru finally found her home._

./.

It was clear, even before the fight started, that Morto was different, more powerful, more resilient to the bells that the Fujis wielded somehow.

He was of the Greater Dead, after all, and though that should not have mattered much, he's had centuries of power that ensured that none of Syusuke's predecessors had ever been able to banish him to true death.

The best they had been able to come up with was the binding, and Syusuke knew now, that even _that_ had been shaky at best.

He had an entire army of dead on his side, as well, and even though the rest of his family was taking care of them (and of the man named Ashikaga), Morto was still something of a big problem.

During the course of the fight, Syusuke had rung three bells.

The best those bells had gotten him was the area just before the Ninth Gate, when, at his sheer force of will, the Bell of the Walker's sound had been amplified by the Bell of the Thinker and got them to where they were right now.

Morto had dug his heels and fought against the power of the rings before he came close to passing through to true death.

It helped Morto, of course, that after ringing two of the most powerful (and resilient) bells simultaneously, Syusuke's strength had depleted so much, he could barely even see properly.

Morto was laughing, eyeing Syusuke patronizingly, as if this was just a silly little game to him, and Syusuke was nothing more than a furious, sore loser.

Behind him, the sounds of another fight was evident, and though Syusuke worried, he knew he had to keep his full concentration on _this_ fight. His family would be all right, he was sure. They wouldn't be defeated by a coward like that twice.

He refused, _absolutely refused_, to think about what happened to people who died twice.

"_I'll be down soon, Lord Ashikaga_,_"_ Morto was saying, obviously taunting him. _"Just as soon as I am finished with the last pitiful remains of my enemy."_

Pitiful? Who said Syusuke was pitiful? Syusuke, who was fighting for all the people he loved. Syusuke, who had a reason to stay alive, who had a reason to win. Syusuke, who, more than anything, wanted to go home to his not-brother's strong embrace and know for certain that he, too, was loved.

Syusuke, who was the scion of the Clan of Death.

Morto should know better than to insult him.

He launched himself towards his enemy, once again, taking the force of the cold Death waters with him.

The impact did more than just take out his breath, but he didn't stop to recover. He let the waters loose, and the towering waves slammed down on them both in a giant tidal wave, swallowing up Morto's form wholly.

Syusuke struggled against Morto's many tendrils under the water, as they tried to pull him down with the creature, touching his leg in caresses that left him shuddering. But Syusuke kicked those away, until he surfaced the cold water, gasping for air.

He could feel the river shifting in response to his commands. He could feel it becoming deeper, and just as he mustered some energy to smile and be pleased, he felt a tendril circling around his ankle, pulling him abrubtly under before he could take another breath.

He could feel Morto's laugh resounding in the grey stillness that surrounded him.

"_Pitiful human!"_ the creature chortled as the tendrils became greater in number, wrapping around his body as he struggled. One wrapped around his neck and for a moment, blackness overwhelmed his vision. _"Die, like the powerless fool you are!"_

And his words were not merely words. They came with a force that seemed to squeeze Syusuke's entire being, and for a moment, his heart actually stopped beating. Air was being cut off, and it seemed like his blood circulation was stopping. His mind felt like it was being pulled apart and squeezed all at once.

He didn't care that he was underwater, he opened his mouth to scream, only to have water rushing in quickly, unrelentlessly. He knew he was tearing up again, as he choked on the river waters. They had a strange, disgusting taste to them that left Syusuke's stomach in knots.

The force disappeared as abrubtly as it came, replaced by lingering, amused laughter.

This... He can't...

He felt numb all over, and his body was getting close to shutting down and giving up. He... _couldn't even move_, his mind, and everything else, was getting more than a little bit fuzzy and his heart, that had been hammering all this time was starting to beat slower and slower.

Syusuke knew if this continued, it won't be long before it would stop completely.

But he couldn't die right now. He still had so many things to live for, so many promises to fulfill, and he still had to kill this creature once and for all. He knew, probably even before this, that he was the only one that _could_, because he was, and will forever be, the last Fuji.

Because he wouldn't have the chance to be in the right situation to 'be fertile and multiply,' his bloodline would end with him.

So Morto had to be gotten rid of, Morto had to be brought to true death, before he could allow himself to die.

At least, _at least_, he could give Kunimitsu and Seiichi that.

_Just a little bit more_, he promised himself.

It took great effort to summon a bell this time, even though _this_ bell was the weakest and smallest of all bells, even though he'd summoned _this _bell easily sometime at the beginning of the fight, and it took even greater strength and much pain to get his hand to grip the handle.

He would be gasping if he wasn't underwater, as it was he merely bore the pain silently. It had been so easy to use this bell before, when he'd granted Maihara Chizuru's wish and finally ended her life, but now, a strange, unfamiliar ringing seemed to fill his head, leaving him dizzy and weaker than ever before.

_Just a little bit more_.

He cocked his wrist and the Bell of the Sleepbringer's sweet sound permeated through the whole water. He smiled at Morto's screech. Sound, after all, travelled much faster in water than in air.

He felt the tendrils release their hold on him, and, even as his whole body protested, he pushed himself upwards as fast as he could.

When his head broke the surface, he gasped in lungfuls of cold air, and he felt his body weightlessly moving upwards, until his feet barely touched the water.

The strange ringing sound was filling his head again, and he felt the bile making its way into his mouth, but he restrained, his gaze trained into the surface of the Ninth Gate's waters.

_Just a little bit more._

The water started to freeze, and not a second too soon, as his weakness manifested itself and he dropped into the frozen surface. He didn't doubt for a second Morto's ability to break the ice... but at least it would buy him a little time.

His breath was coming out in ragged gasps, and he felt his entire frame trembling.

But he focused his mind on the second strongest bell in his arsenal, and the most powerful bell he was allowed to summon and use. It would deplete much of the few that was left of his energy, but he had to do it.

He had to. _Just a little bit more._

The next time he coughed, it was wet, and something crimson painted the frozen white surface. He ignored it, and focused on the Bell of the Binder.

And just as he managed to get himself to grip the bell's large handle with both hands, Morto broke through the surface, not even cracking the ice in the slightest.

He tightened his grip, cocked the bell and rang it, letting its authoritative sound fill the entire river. He could see, from his position, the more powerful dead of Morto's army that remained fighting against his family with Ashikaga stiffen, and swiftly let themselves be swallowed by Death's waters. From where he sat, trembling on the frozen surface, he could see them passing underneath him, unmoving and still.

The Ninth Gate roared to acknowledge their passing.

But Morto, still poised behind him, wasn't moving. In fact, when Syusuke found the strength to turn around, the creature was watching him with a cruel, satisfied smirk.

"_Too late, Fuji Syusuke,"_ he was saying, gesturing to the black tendril that was swiftly making its way over to where his family was now fighting a lone Ashikaga.

Making its way, Syusuke realized with dread, towards _Yuuta_.

"_Much too late."_

No! _No!_

Ignoring his protesting body, his swimming head and his aching chest, he stood up and took off in a desperate run towards the little brother he never even met.

"Yuuta!"

Was this how Kunimitsu felt, when he had been about to get shot? Did Kunimitsu feel this sickening sense of dread, this desperation, this overwhelming fear?

"Yuuta!" His cry was drowned out by yet another one of Morto's grating laughters.

_("You'd have a little brother soon enough, my sweet. Just wait. He'll be perfect, just like you.")_

Syusuke had never had the chance to become an older brother, he'd been Kunimitsu's little brother all his life, but he knew, _he knew_, older brothers were supposed to care for and protect their little brothers.

And even though he didn't even know Yuuta that much, even though he only met him today, Yuuta was still his younger brother.

And he had to protect Yuuta.

"Yuuta!" He slammed into his brother's back, feeling relief course through his entire being.

Black was threatening all sides of his vision, and he watched, with some numbness, as if he were watching everything from faraway, as Yuuta turned in his arms, looking annoyed.

As Yuuta's face morphed from angry to horrified.

As his little brother screamed his name when the black tendril pierced and went through his chest.

./.

The wall of shadows was trembling, shaking and barely retaining its form.

Tezuka judged three-quarters of an hour before Yukimura would become too tired entirely to hold it up.

In the first place, he shouldn't have. But when you loved, you worried, and Tezuka knew that no matter how risky it was, Yukimura would have brought it up, anyway, so long as he held additional precaution so the Army of the Dead would not reach Syusuke.

Besides, it wasn't as if he wasn't powerful enough not to.

Over the course of the past few hours, they had been fighting what seemed to be a neverending army.

No matter how dismembered the corpses were, they just kept on going, and through more had stopped coming from what seemed to be nowhere, there was still altogether too many for the few of the Dangerous Types that remained.

Too many of them had died in this battle.

(Tezuka had seen Meiko die. It was a stupid death, and it could have been avoided if she hadn't been careless, but she had, and she'd paid the price for it when the corpse she had supposedly killed had gotten up once her back was turned and twisted her head until Tezuka heard the bones crack. She died smiling about the last battle she thought she had won.)

Looking away from the trembling wall in front of the Academy's gates, Tezuka counted about two to three dozen more Dangerous Types standing. Most of them were injured, and all of them, Tezuka included, were tired, but going on anyway.

The odds were horrible. They were fighting unkillable monsters half a hundred-to-one and they were alive. Apparently, that was a disadvantage when the enemies were dead monsters who don't get tired, and who don't get bothered even as an arm or a head was chopped off.

He picked up a sword from the hand of an unmoving student, and started fighting once again. It was almost mindless, he barely had time to think, there was just _too many_ enemies, so he let instinct take over once again.

At times like this one, instinct was his greatest weapon.

He was too worried, too stressed, too _tired_ to contemplate his every move.

At some point between all the fighting, he found himself back-to-back with Yukimura.

"Put the wall down," he advised, ducking and letting the sharp point of Yukimura's shadows slice the dead in half. "You're tired."

"Who are you to say I'm tired?" Yukimura questioned, eyes sharp and body upright.

He was good in things like these, Tezuka knew. But the shadows he controlled were getting more and more restless, and even though he still manipulated and formed them the way he wanted to, Tezuka could see he was having a hard time keeping them together.

"Someone who does not want to bring your lifeless body to Syusuke because you were too stubborn to listen." Tezuka's words were blunt and to the point. He gripped Yukimura's arm, jerked him to the side and sliced through another corpse that had been coming dangerously near the exhausted shadow-wielder. He was not one to mince words, after all.

Yukimura clearly took offense to what he said (and did) because the next few corpses coming their way were quickly intercepted and torn apart violently by his shadows.

"Do not act as if I am weak, Tezuka." There was a cold edge to his voice that betrayed his anger. "And do not use Syusuke's name so frivolously." All around them, shadow tendrils were wrapping themselves around corpses, squeezing some, tearing apart others. "You will not manipulate me thusly."

"I merely speak the truth." Tezuka turned away from the cold gaze and shred the few that had survived Yukimura's onslaught to ribbons with just his mind.

"Syusuke has extracted a promise from me." Yukimura raised his chin defiantly, and pushed Tezuka out of the way with a sudden burst of strength as a group of corpses surrounded him.

Tezuka stumbled against Atobe, who was right in the middle of a 'be awed by the sight of ore-sama's prowess' moment.

Tezuka saw the wry but satisfied twitch of Yukimura's mouth.

"It is enough." Yukimura's words signalled the firm end of that conversation.

"Bitch," Atobe was muttering under his breath.

Tezuka restrained the urge to roll his eyes and moved away.

And just as he was about to finish off the last of the corpses nearest him, he froze as an odd sense of dread settled on the pit of his stomach.

"_Nii-san!"_

Syusuke's face flashed in his mind and his muscles locked.

He didn't like this feeling. It was almost as if... as if...

No.

No, he can't. Syusuke can't be...

"_Tezuka, watch out!"_

But before he could fully register the moment, the corpse had raised a sword and was bringing it in a swift arc down towards him.

_"Tezuka!"_

./.

"_Ne, nii-san..."_

"_Hmm?"_

"_It's sad, isn't it?"_

"_Sad?"_

"_Dying. It's sad."_

"_I suppose."_

"_I don't know what I'll do if you die. I know I'll be really, really sad, I'd probably want to die myself."_

"_Syusuke, don't _ever_ say that!"_

"_Well, it's true, ne? You'd feel that way, too, won't you?"_

"_Syusuke-"_

"Won't you?_"_

"_Ah."_

"_See?"_

"_..."_

"_Well, let's just die together then!"_

"_What?"_

"_See, if you die, I'll be really sad, and if I die, you'll be really sad, too, won't you, nii-san?"_

"_Ah."_

"_So, we should die together! That way, we won't be sad!"_

"_Syusuke, I don't plan on dying just yet."_

"_I know, nii-san, you're so funny. But _just say_..."_

"_Say what?"_

"_Nii-san, I want to live my life with you... Is it so weird that I want to die with you, too?"_

"_..."_

"_Nii-san?"_

"_No. No, it's not..._

"_... I love you, Syusuke."_

"_I love you, too, nii-san. I love you, too."_

* * *

><p>Clary: The end! Yey!<p>

...

...

Clary: I'm joking, of course. Haha :)

Lia: I don't think that was very mature of you.

Clary: Oh, pooh, Lia. I was JOKING, okay. There's probably one more long chapter after this (or two short chapters, whichever works best for the scenes) and an epilogue.

Lia: I was against the epilogue. She has the epilogue already prepared, by the way, which baffles me, because she hasn't even finished writing the story.

Clary: Wahahahaha~

Lia: Also, I am under the opinion that she was on crack or something when she wrote it. I hope you are sufficiently warned.

Clary: But it's fun~~~

Lia: No, it's not.

Clary: Yes, it is –sticks out tongue-. I confess that this chapter should have been longer, though, in my notes, this chapter was supposed to have a completely different title, and was NOT supposed to end where it ended, but well, it felt right to stop there.

Lia: This is her trying to explain to everyone, myself included, how it is possible that there could be either one more long chapter, or two more chapters that are halves of the long one. –sigh- I don't know why I put up with you, Clary, honestly.

Clary: YOU CALLED ME CLARY! Oh my gosh, Lia! –snuggles- LOVES YOU SO MUCH, I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALIVE!

Review, please, everybody! Huggles to all those who do~


	22. XIX Azrael, the Sorrowful

Clary: Nei hou ma? ;) I meant to finish this up before we flew to Hong Kong for summer, but somehow, I was delayed... –sheepish smile- See, it was all very busy and shopping and checking passports and Lia and I learning Cantonese phrases we could use there...

Lia: You mean I was learning, and you were hanging off of my shoulder complaining about how hard it was to remember everything.

Clary: -sticks out tongue- Don't mind her, everyone. Lia's just annoyed because even though she had learned enough to survive a basic conversation with a Chinese person, she has this funny little accent that sends everyone within a ten-mile radius laughing their asses off.

Lia: At least I learned something, like I was supposed to.

Clary: Hey, I learned something. Xie xie.

Lia: The only phrase you even bothered learning, and it's in the wrong dialect.

Clary: SO? IT'S CHINESE, ISN'T IT?

Lia: -sigh- It's Mandarin. The people in Hong Kong speak CANTONESE.

Clary: Fuck you, Lia. -sticks out tongue at Lia again- Anyway, everyone, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER (BUT THERE'S AN EPILOGUE, IF YOU GUYS WANT IT, do you guys want it?)~~~ I don't know whether to be happy or sad but I just want to THANK EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND ALERTED AND FAVORITE-D and you guys should know I love you so much, I never would have finished this story without you~~~ Kyaaaa~~~ -hearts hearts hearts-

Oh, and once again, the bells are not ours. (:

Enjoy :)

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: Lia (and Lia's funny accent), Alatarielf (we're glad you're happy, ne? We love you, see, and Lia's healthy enough to have travelled for summer, so~ hope this wasn't too late for you~ :)), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (maa, you flatter us too much –blush- haha~ as for everything else, read and see, ne? As promised, the last chapter isn't broken in half ;)), lemon-and-chai (waii~ we're sorry~~ though we have to ask, are you psychic or something, because... just because ;) we'll not give anything away... if you want it, there's some of Atobe's prowess in the epilogue, though :)), phoenixfirekitsune (battle ends now, dun dun dun~~ wahaha~ and Yuuta's appearing here, too, you won't miss him :) we hope this counts as soon for you, ne?), Kagerou Zutsumi (HUGGLES HUGGLES HUGGLES~~~ maa, thanks so much for loving it~~~ cliffhangers are awesome~ wahaha~ hope you enjoy the last chapter ;))

* * *

><p><strong>XIX. AZRAEL, THE SORROWFUL<strong>

* * *

><p>Yuuta died when he was still inside his mother's womb. He would have been born into the Fuji family had he lived, and he would have found peace and rest if he had truly died.<p>

As it was, he had neither.

His mother and father and older sister had accepted their passage to Death easily, but, like many other Fujis, they had power strong enough to prevent true Death. And because his family worried about the remaining heir of the Fuji bloodline (since his mother worried so much about the son she had left behind, and since his father always patronized her, and since his sister was a sadistic, let's-tease-Yuuta-whenever-we-get-the-chance-so-he-becomes-embarrassed bitch), they didn't claim rest in true Death.

And so, Yuuta (and the rest of his family) grew along with his still-alive aniki, Syusuke.

Yuuta has been raised to love his aniki, really, he has. His mother practically worshipped his aniki, and he suspected she'd even build a shrine dedicated to him, if she was capable, and she, when Yuuta had sufficiently grown up, had spent most of her days by the end of Death's river, looking out towards life.

Besides, his aniki was beautiful, kind, gentle, and Yuuta could imagine, sometimes and _God forbid_ Yumiko would know about this, how it would be like to be that gentle, kind, caring, accepting soul's little brother.

He even had dreams sometimes. _("Don't worry, ne, Yuuta? Aniki's here. Aniki will always protect you. Aniki loves you, ne?")_ And they were very nice dreams that left him smiling like an idiot all day long and Yumiko teasing him a full day afterwards.

So, really, Yuuta didn't _hate_ his aniki, not in that sense, but sometimes, like the rest of his annoying family (that he loved with all his heart even if he didn't show it), his aniki was just, _exasperatingly,_ a clueless, naive, _goddamn_...

"_...Idiot! You fucking idiot!_" he shook his brother again, for the third time, willing him awake. Death's waters swirled around him where he was kneeling over the collapsed form of his brother. He didn't understand the tears that were making their way to his eyes so he chalked it up to frustration. His mother was gripping his shoulder so tightly it _hurt_ and her knuckles were white from the effort.

She was hyperventilating and hysterical, though she was keeping in most of her emotions. The only signs that betrayed her were the hand, the noisy breathing, and the fact that she left her husband's side from where he was fending off Morto and where Yumiko was fighting Ashikaga to hover over him and his brother.

He shook the body again. The injury Morto had caused had long since healed, taken care of by Yuuta's own abilities in Death. But using two, three, maybe four or five different necromancer bells, in close succession must have drained much of his aniki's energy. Really, he knew better than to do that. It was stupid and idiotic and _how the hell had he been keeping himself alive for the past sixteen years if he was as clueless as that?_ He supposed he had Tezuka-san and Yukimura-san to thank for it, because really, his brother was nothing more than an idiot (but an idiot that Yuuta, and plenty of other handfuls of people, loved).

If they weren't in the middle of the battle, he'd be yelling his ass off, but given the situation, he contented himself with shaking the little sleeping beauty.

"If you don't wake up right now," he threatened, shaking the fragile body again (his aniki was small, far too small to be able to bear too much of Death's burden, and Yuuta had to wince). "If you don't wake up right now, and we lose, I'll hate you. I'll-"

"Yuuta," his mother began warningly, but Yuuta can't be distracted. His aniki _had_ to wake up, he was the only one who could finish this battle, the rest of them were dead. And no matter how powerful they were, they could never touch the living, not anymore.

"I'm beginning to hate you right now," he said, drawing his hand back for a slap. He blinked his eyes quickly to get rid of the tears he really didn't need right now, but before he could bring his hand down, the delicate lashes fluttered and he was met by the arresting gaze of his aniki.

"Yuuta?" his aniki smiled, small hands going around his body, as his aniki moved to sit up and hug him. "You're okay."

Despite the threats and the frustration, Yuuta had to bite his lip so he could keep from smiling, and he turned his head away so his aniki couldn't see him blush. He could feel his mother's approving gaze, before her presence disappeared from his side. She was probably back at his father's side, now that Syusuke was awake and talking.

"Idiot," he said, because if he didn't, he knew he'd give up and hug his aniki anyway. Stupid _idiot_. "What the _hell_ did you think you were doing, protecting me like that?"

Syusuke stared at him with those blue eyes of his, eyes that held infinite wisdom, and that suddenly, for a moment, made Yuuta feel like a child. And then that moment ended, and his aniki was struggling to stand up, smiling sheepishly. "Well, he was going to hit you, if I didn't."

"I'm _dead_," Yuuta replied, more fiercely that he thought would say it. "The worst that could happen to me is that I'd have a hole in my chest that would be ugly to look at but not uncomfortable in the least. You, on the other hand, are _not dead_ and so, if I wasn't here, you _could have died_. That was a _very_ stupid thing to do." And because he can't help it, he said, again. "Idiot."

Despite the obvious insult, Syusuke kept up his smile, his hands tightening on where they were gripping Yuuta's shirt. "Even so," Syusuke's voice was soft, wrapped with a gentleness that Yuuta had only ever dreamed of. _("Don't worry, ne, Yuuta? Aniki's here. Aniki will always protect you. Aniki loves you, ne?")_ "I'm glad I had the chance to be an older brother to you. Even just this once."

Yuuta turned his head away from his brother's face because _damn it_, he was blushing again, what was it with idiots and their idiot words that made his legs feel mushy like this?

He took a deep breath, fought away the blush, and held out a finger. "I saved you, but just this one time, okay?" He looked down on his brother (and _hah!_ he was taller!) and met his eyes. "So you better make sure to get your damn act together because I'm not healing your sorry ass ever again."

Syusuke was frowning. "Yuuta, where did you learn that _language_?"

Yuuta gaped, rather ungracefully, at his brother. And damn it, even though he knew he was dead, and they were in the middle of the biggest battle of their lives (or, well, _Syusuke_'s life and _their_ existence), he threw his head back and laughed.

He chanced a glance back at Syusuke, who was now raising his eyebrows and smiling thinly, a spitting image of his mother when she was annoyed but didn't want to show it, and laughed even harder.

"I really don't see what's so funny, Yuuta," Syusuke was saying. "It's not unusual for older brothers to want to protect the ears, and mouth, of their precious, cute little-"

But before he could finish his sentence, and Yuuta could tell him off for calling him "_cute,_" he was pulled under Death's waters so quickly, Yuuta didn't have the chance to react.

And it was only then that he noticed the tendrils, _Morto's tendrils_, that had drifted their way towards him and his brother.

./.

Well, this was getting on to be really boring.

Echizen Ryoma gave out a huge yawn he didn't even bother to cover, eyeing Persona from the corner of his eye. He honestly did not understand the guy. First he says he wanted Ryoma in the _frontlines_ and fuck if Ryoma did not want that. But the old geezer, for some stupid godforsaken reason decided that no, Ryoma had to stay beside him.

And because the fucking old man apparantly had more interest on the state of his nails than on the battle, Ryoma found himself standing on top of the Academy gates fucking watching the battle while Persona _preened_ beside him and pretended not see the yawns Ryoma was giving out so he _got the fucking point_ and sent him down to battle already.

About half of his students had died and he didn't fucking care!

Not that Ryoma cared, he hardly cared about the battle right now because he so obviously was _not_ in it, and he hardly cared about the dying so-called Dangerous Ability Types, too. Don't get him wrong, he went to this school for the competition, but if they were as weak as that, then they didn't deserve to be his competition in the first place. There were some he'd have wanted to take apart on his own, but they died and good riddance.

He looked at Persona again, and tried to think of another tactic to show off his boredom. He'd tried yawning, and see where that got him (_fucking_ nowhere!). Still, he couldn't help it. He'd never, never, _never, never, never_ been on _just_ the sidelines of a battle before. He was too good to be just the benchwarmer, everyone instinctively acknowledged that, and those who didn't, he made wish they had never even opened their mouths (who fucking _cares_ how tall he was, it so did not affect the power of his alice).

He watched as more blood was drawn and turned to glare at Persona once again, only to have the force of the glare cut off when he had to stifle yet another yawn.

Damn, this was boring.

Persona looked as unaffected as ever, watching the bloodshed dispassionately, like he had been doing ever since the start of the fight. Ryoma guessed this will carry on until some side wins and he looked down and glared at the dying students who got into the worst of the fight because Persona hadn't chosen _them_ to be his personal lapdog.

Lucky them.

And then suddenly, Persona stiffened. It wasn't much of a change, and if one wasn't as good as Ryoma, one would not have noticed, but Ryoma had been doing things like this ever since he learned what the word eyes meant.

"Echizen-kun," Persona snapped, his lips turned down into a frown. Persona jerked his head into the fight. "Now."

Well, _finally_. For a split second, Ryoma glaced at the catalyst for Persona's approval. It was the guy with the glasses Ryoma had singled out at the beginning of the fight. He was good, and Ryoma had wanted to get in down there and challenge him to a fight. Apparently, he was in a sort of sticky situation with the zombies.

Huh. Guess he was indispensible to Persona.

All the more fun for Ryoma, then.

He hurtled through the air, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he barely made it in time to block the sword from reaching its intended target. His right arm caught the brunt of it, leaving the sword deeply imbedded, his arm starting to bleed.

He grinned up at the guy-who-will-be-his-greatest-competitor-yet. His face was impassive as he stared at Ryoma and Ryoma's arm and the sword, as if a few moments ago, he hadn't been close to dying. He was great! He was perfect! And because Ryoma's entrance had been so splendid, there was no way, _absolutely no way_, he could ignore Ryoma now. Ha!

The guy raised a hand and the zombie behind him exploded with a screech.

And so did the zombie making its way behind the guy. And then, he adjusted his eyeglasses as if nothing happened, still with the same stoic countenance. (Oh, what wonderful competition he will be!)

"Don't let your guard down," he said, killing off more of the zombies behind Ryoma. Ryoma knew because he could feel the shifting of the air currents, and hear their screeches of pain. He wondered briefly what the guy's alice was, but that didn't matter.

It was _his_ turn to show off.

He pressed the sword in his arm tighter, so that he drew more blood, before he tore it away with so much force he suspected he worsened the injury even more. He grinned. Well, the more, the better. He flung his arm to the side letting his blood splatter to the ground. And, at his command, the earth rumbled, and exploded into a thousand different pieces.

The explosion was brilliant (_see that? see how easy it was for me?_) and great cracks marked the land, rubble and small bits of boulders expelled out into the air. Ryoma could see through the dust that was caused by the explosion, but even if he didn't, he knew that the zombies had been the most affected by it.

He turned his head to smirk at his now biggest rival. And with all the satisfaction of someone who knew just how strong he was, he said, "_Mada mada dane_."

./.

Ashikaga was screeching, his eyes alight with spark that Syusuke guessed was more than a little mad.

The explosion back in life had rocked Death, as well, and even through the tendrils that where strangling him, holding him spread-eagled in the air, displayed to his family, he gave a small smile of satisfaction. He knew they were winning. Somewhere back in life, Kunimitsu and the others were fighting and they were _winning_.

The thought gave him an invigorating burst of energy, and he started to struggle against his binds once again. The river was in chaos, as if it had been thrown into the middle of a hurricane. Great waves crashed against Morto's form but he stayed strong, and so did Ashikaga, grinning insanely.

Morto tightened his bonds, and focused on choking Syusuke once again. Syusuke tried to struggle away, his mouth open in a scream without noise, because he couldn't draw enough air for it, and for a moment, the shouts and the noise faded.

And then they were back, and Morto was leering at him from behind as he gasped for breath. The form was shifting and he suddenly found himself choking on filthy air. Morto's laugh hurt his ears and his head, and he heard the soft whisper, like a soft carress, _"Don't struggle, little Fuji. You're only shortening your life."_

He glared and tossed his head away. In response, Morto twisted his arms until he screamed in pain.

Ashikaga was laughing. "What now, Fuji Soushu?"

He paused, and without warning, Morto twisted his body again. Ashikaga laughed again, sounding even more unhinged this time around. "Bad idea, Yuuta-kun," Ashikaga crooned. "You're only making things worse for your precious brother."

"Why aren't you killing him, then?" Yuuta's voice was hard, laced through with anger.

"Because, I want you to watch carefully," Ashikaga replied, and the water roared in response. "Watch carefully, Fuji Soushu, as the light dies out from your son's eyes." He laughed yet again. "Watch!"

Syusuke screamed. It was that same feeling in the water again. The squeezing and pulling, and it hurt twice more than it did before, and it wasn't stopping, and he could feel himself slipping away.

So close.

He could just die, and all this would be over. He wouldn't have to feel pain. He wouldn't have to feel anything.

All he had to do was let go...

Another explosion from life rocked Death and Kunimitsu's face flashed into his consciousness.

No! He couldn't die, not in here, not in Death, not like this. He was the only one who could end it. The only one who could stop Ashikaga and Morto, the only one who could keep them safe. They might be winning _now_, but if he died... If he _died_...

It wouldn't take long for them to die, too.

He shook his head to clear his mind of the pain. What could he do? What _can _he do?

Ashikaga was screaming again. "Watch, Fuji Soushu! Hear his screams! See his spirit slipping away!"

Syusuke paid him no mind. He took his mind off of the pain, and focused. What can he do? What _can he do_?

"_The last of your kind!_"

His vision was darkening again. No! For Kunimitsu. For everyone, _what can he do_? The realization struck him like a physical blow.

"_Watch, Fuji Soushu!_"

The bells. He was a Fuji, he could summon the bells. He was weak, but he might be able to gather the energy to summon one more, and he knew exactly what bell he wanted.

"_My revenge!_"

He knew that all those he could summon was weak against Morto. It had been more than sufficiently proven to him in their previous battle. But... if it was _that_ bell... The bell no Fuji has ever been allowed to summon...

"_My victory!_"

The most powerful bell that had been sealed by the first of those who could walk in Death. The _only_ bell that had a name. If he could break that seal...

"_Feel what it's like to lose what's left of what mattered in your life!_"

The bell came in sharp focus in his mind. He could do it. He would do it. For Kunimitsu and everyone. _Just a little more_...

"And know, Fuji Soushu..."

The squeezing-pulling feeling came again, snapping him out of his concentration. He let out a ragged breath, tears gathering in his eyes. No! He'd been so close, and now, the bell was slipping away from his mind. Everything was slipping away. No! No!

"Know that, as your son dies, and your miserable bloodline ends, and you're, all of you, sent back to Death, wiped out of the face of this earth, know that _I am the one who did this to you._"

Almost at the same time, Morto shifted again, and whispered to Syusuke's ear, "_What say you, I have a bit of fun with those you left behind after you died, little Fuji?_" Syusuke's eyes widened. _"The scions of the Tezuka and Yukimura clans, correct? And the rest of the Academy, while I'm at it._"

He did not just... He... Did he... Syusuke could feel his breathing coming on in gasps. A strange sort of ringing was filling his head, but it did not matter. It did not matter, he did not mind it, because here was Morto, threatening all the people that Syusuke had ever loved. No one, _no one_, threatened them like that.

_No one_.

Syusuke saw red, and suddenly... Suddenly, it was all too easy to break the seal of the most powerful bell, the most powerful voice in Death that anyone could ever have.

He gripped the bell in his hand, and for a moment, time stood still.

And then, Morto recoiled from him, the tendrils holding Syusuke loosening. Morto was roaring and Syusuke was falling, keeping a tight hold on the bell so it would not ring. His body protested even as Death's waters raised up to cushion his fall, but his grip on the bell centered him. He had to focus on what he should do. Save Kunimitsu and the others. Protect everyone.

_Kill Morto_.

His family caught sight of the bell, and his father stepped forward. "Syusuke," he said, with an odd tone Syusuke could not place. But Syusuke shook his head fiercely, his blood still boiling in anger.

He held out the bell with both hands, his body trembling with barely-supressed rage and something else he _refused_ to acknowledge. And raised his eyes to meet the enemy's.

Morto was seething, too, though for a completely different reason than Syusuke. Ashikaga was wild-eyed, but fear was slowly making its way towards his posture.

Syusuke had to smile, the cruel, sadistic blood that ran in his veins making itself known. "Know this bell, do you?"

Of course they did. No one has ever successfully broken the seal until now, but the bell was famous and desired enough.

His family knew about it. Ashikaga knew about it. Morto knew about it. But the angry monster that had reared up inside Syusuke when Morto threatened his loved ones was not satisfied.

Morto roared again. "_This is why I detest you!_" he screamed.

Syusuke kept his thin smile. The bell was trembling in his hands, obviously eager to be rung, its power potent in his hands.

"_You and your pitiful clan! You are mere humans! You have no right playing at Death as if it belongs to you! Weak mortals, creating those toys, playing-_" Morto cut off abrubtly before his form darkened and he roared once again.

"Playing what?" Fuji taunted, his voice steely, his eyes narrow. "Say it."

Morto only roared back.

"Finish your sentence. _Say it_."

Morto roared again.

"Playing God, isn't that what you wanted to say?" Syusuke's fingers tightened on the large handle. "You despise my family because we are mere humans, and yet we are more powerful than you, isn't that right? You think _you're_ so powerful, yet you can't even say one measly word." He paused, tightening his hold until his own hands were trembling on the handle. "Well, _say it_," Syusuke caught his gaze, challenging. It served him right for threatening them. It _served him right_. "Say it, and I might consider letting you live."

Morto opened the pit that was his mouth, but he and Syusuke both knew he couldn't say it. He was a Greater Dead, and if ever there was a limit placed upon those of _his_ kind, it was that. He couldn't say it, and he and Ashikaga would die.

For a moment, all was silent and still, and Syusuke used that last moment to give out words he wished would reach the hearts of the people that he loved.

And then, Morto opened his mouth and _roared_, rocking Death, his entire being rushing towards Syusuke.

Syusuke moved to cock his wrist, preparing to ring the bell. His family was moving towards him, distressed looks on their faces, and even in the middle of the last battle he would ever have to fight, Syusuke had to shake his head and smile.

Because the image that was etched at the back of his eyelids was Kunimitsu's face.

With both his hands clutching the large handle, he let the bell ring. It should have a sound that was commanding, a sound that would fill Death and those Dead beyond the reach of the rivers, urging and ordering them all to die. And yet, its ring would also be low and mournful, for as it carries out its command, it weeps for it knows what it costs to ring it.

The most powerful weapon in Death.

The only bell with a name.

The bell named after the Angel of Death.

Azrael, the Sorrowful.

The double-edged, most powerful command of death.

For the bell was powerful, was omnicient in Death in the way that it sent everyone who heard its ring towards true death, in the way that it caused everyone who heard its ring to truly, irrevocably die.

_Everyone_.

Including its ringer.

./.

As suddenly as they came, they were gone.

They vanished completely, and for a moment, all the students left in the front gates of the Academy tensed, poised and ready for some sort of a trap. But after many heartbeats, when nothing happened, a student Tezuka did not know released a happy shout, which seemed to unfreeze the others.

That was it. It was over.

Everyone burst into celebration, girls were throwing their arms around each other, boys were patting each other in their backs. Even Tezuka managed a small smile, because even though he did not know how he knew, he knew it was completely over.

The last few hours had been hell, but they survived it. The impossible undead army was gone, and they were still alive and living, and safe.

Tezuka let his gaze wander.

He saw Shiraishi, looking as if he was scolding Chitose. They were on the outer part of the invisible defensive circle of the students, but they were still pretty much visible to Tezuka. Blood had completely soaked through his bandages, and there was a cut in his right cheek, but he was otherwise unharmed. Chitose, unsurprisingly, was spotless.

He saw Atobe a bit closer to him this time. There was blood in the upper part of his uniform, and there was probably a cut there, but he looked fine. He was purple in the face, though, but that had probably something to do with his argument with the cocky kid who showed up a few moments ago. Whoever the kid was, Tezuka had to hand it to him. Atobe looked completely outraged.

Yukimura, standing the closest to him, was the only wallflower in the party.

Where everyone else was celebrating, Yukimura's posture was stiff. His face was white, and his lips were pressed thinly.

Tezuka suddenly didn't feel like celebrating anymore.

Yukimura turned to him, eyes full of fear, and the dread returned to the pit of Tezuka's stomach.

"_Syusuke_."

./.

In Death, all was silent.

Fuji Yoshiko drew out a shuddering breath, her eyes filled with fresh tears. She turned to her husband, who was standing so still and whose face was so blank, she suddenly felt as if he was out of her reach.

Death's waters were calm, and snow had begun to fall steadily once again.

Everything was back to normal.

But Yoshiko's tears were still flowing. "Anata..." she whispered raggedly.

"Forgive me, Yoshiko," her husband whispered, but his voice in Death was loud. "Forgive me."

She swallowed her sadness and shook her head. "No, I..." She paused and gave out another breath. "I'm sorry." She smiled wistfully, looking down to where her son was nestled in her arms. "I'm just being selfish, I suppose."

She gazed at his sleeping form once again, and smoothed his hair back. It was wet, and not as unruly as she had pictured it to be, but it was smooth on her fingers, and she loved it all the same. His skin carried the traditional Fuji pallor, pale almost to the point of being deathly. His lashes were long, and made to stick together in star-like points because of the water, a dark contrast against the white canvas of his skin. He was every bit the baby she had dreamed of, every bit the baby she loved. Brave and strong, dauntless and loving.

And, for the first time in sixteen years, she was his mother.

She snuggled him up closer to her, feeling the weight she had not felt for such a very long time. She missed this, missed it with such force that rivalled everything else she had ever felt in her existence.

She knew exactly what her husband did, what he had power to do. Fuji heirs always had the most potent of powers in Death, her husband had been no different. She knew he prevented Syusuke from hearing Azrael's ring so that his soul would not be compelled to die. She knew he knew that she wanted Syusuke with them, with _her_ so she could finally spend the rest of her existence making up for the sixteen years she had lost because of her own selfishness.

She knew he considered it.

But Syusuke had a life out there, had formed a family for himself, and whatever else Yoshiko felt for him, and however much she wanted to be with him, it wasn't worth impeding his own happiness.

She loved her son, so she could let him be happy, even if she wasn't part of that happiness.

She loosened her hold with a small sigh. Nobody ever said motherhood was easy.

Yuuta reached over and touched his brother's chest. At Yoshiko's questioning eyebrow, he looked away and flushed, as was his wont when it came to the question of his affection for his older brother.

"He has an injury, back in life," Yuuta said stiffly, still trying to pretend he was indifferent. "I'm fixing it."

"But I thought you said you wouldn't heal him again?" Yumiko teased.

"How did you-?" Yuuta sighed and shook his head, knowing better than to ask. "Yeah, well, since I won't be seeing him in a while, might as well." He shrugged and turned to glare at Yumiko.

Yoshiko smiled, and for the first time in sixteen years, she smoothed her son's hair back and kissed his forehead, wishing him sweet dreams, feeling like a mother once more.

And she let him go, as what she was meant to do. Her husband's power would ensure his soul would get to life.

And that was that.

She stood up and Yumiko, at her side, smiled assuringly. "He'll be fine."

Yoshiko knew that. She knew he'd be fine and happy with the family he had at the Academy. He'd live his life, fall in love, maybe even head off to some country she hadn't gone to. And then, when his time comes, when that time _finally _comes...

He'd come back into her embrace, and they could be a family once again.

./.

Tezuka was tired, but he ran, his heart pounding eerily loud on his chest. He could feel each beat reverberating throughout his entire body, one for every second he did not know whether or not Syusuke was still alive.

He should have known those dead would not disappear on their own, should have _known_ Syusuke wouldn't stay still and do nothing while he knew everyone else was fighting.

It was just like Syusuke to not care about himself and blindly forge ahead to save those he loved.

Yukimura was running alongside him, too tired to travel through the shadows. He was trying to be calm, and act calm, but he loved Syusuke too much for it to work. His face was pinched with fear, and his eyes filmed by a layer of wetness that Tezuka suspected were his held-back tears.

For a moment, Tezuka tried to imagine the worst, tried to imagine a world where Syusuke did not exist.

The pain of just the thought of it sent Tezuka's head reeling, and knocked the breath out of his very being. Tezuka did not know how, but he could not exist without Syusuke, he simply couldn't. He had been strong before, but that was because there was Syusuke to be strong _for, _but if Syusuke wasn't there... He knew, he just _knew _he _couldn't_ find the strength to live. Perhaps if Syusuke really _was_ lost, then maybe he could just lie down beside him and wait, even for eternity, for death to claim him so he could be with Syusuke once again.

"In through here!" Yukimura's wavering voice cut into his morbid thoughts, and he pushed himself even harder.

And before he knew it, Yukimura was flinging open the door to the infirmary, and Syusuke's bed was there, horribly scarlet with Syusuke's blood, but glinting against the light in the way ice would. In fact, ice had covered the entire expanse of the room, lending it a cold air, greatly increasing their sense of dread.

Syusuke was nowhere to be found.

Yukimura, beside him, sucked in a sharp breath.

Tezuka's eyes zeroed in on a trail of bloody bandages on the floor, and they followed it mutely, trepidation growing in their veins.

The trail ended abruptly before a smaller door. Tezuka did not know where it led to, and he didn't have the time to search his memory for it, before Yukimura flung it open, and stood frozen.

Tezuka moved towards the doorway, scared of what he would find. In the corner of his mind's eye, he saw that world again, that world where Syusuke wasn't there, where Syusuke did not live because Tezuka had been too weak to protect him. Tezuka's heart clenched.

He pushed the door in a little bit further...

And came face to face with wide, startled blue eyes.

Syusuke was inside, clad in a messily arranged yukata that looked hastily put on, and he was pale and shaking, and Tezuka suspected he had come so close to dying, but he was alive, and he was standing there, looking at Tezuka, living and breathing and whole.

And despite the fact that Yukimura was there, and Yukimura would disapprove, Tezuka strode the few steps it would take him to get to Syusuke, pulled him against his own body, bent down his head and kissed him.

It was a desperate kiss, messy and fierce, but Tezuka didn't care. Syusuke was _here_, Syusuke's lips were against his, and Syusuke was kissing _back_, clutching his shoulders with equal fervor, bringing himself up, pushing his body against Tezuka's own. Tezuka's eyes were open, watching Syusuke's face intently, watching his lashes flutter against his cheeks, watching the beautiful rose flush slowly spread across his face, and he could see the color returning to his world.

His grip in Syusuke's head only tightened, his hand tangled on the honey locks that he was too busy to admire, because Syusuke moving against him and Syusuke sighing with pleasure was too much for even Tezuka to handle.

When they broke off gasping for air, leaning against each other, Tezuka supported Syusuke's weight as his body fell against his own.

Tezuka suddenly remembered Yukimura, standing in the doorway, and when he lifted his head and turned to look at his love's cousin, Yukimura's mouth was once again back to its usual smile but his eyes were steely and his eyebrows were raised.

"You have about ten seconds to get yourself off of Syusuke and step aside so I can warn him away from the sex maniac you apparently are," Yukimura said pleasantly.

...Tezuka wasn't a sex maniac, he was just happy Syusuke was alive, and... he sighed. Surely Yukimura, who had run alongside him carrying the same fear, would understand. "Yukimura-"

"That's five seconds Tezuku-_kun_," Yukimura cut him off, still with the same deadly smile. "Do you really want to wait until you've been torn to shreds?"

Syusuke was shoving at his body, indirectly telling him to get away.

Tezuka sighed and stepped away. Syusuke smiled at him, shyly, before he bounded towards his cousin and threw his arms around him, laughing.

Yukimura hugged him just as fiercely, and for a moment, his mask of protective-cousin slipped away and was replaced with a gentleness Tezuka had only ever seen him display to Syusuke. He was murmuring something to Syusuke's ear, and Syusuke answered just as softly, with a small sheepish smile.

"Promise me," Tezuka heard Yukimura say as a reply to Syusuke's answer. His tone was firm and fierce. "_Promise me_ that you are _not_ going to put me through that again. No death scares, okay?"

"I'll try," Syusuke said, leaning against Yukimura's chest. "But you know I love you and Kunimitsu, right? And I'd do anything for you. Even dying."

The room fell silent, and Tezuka found Yukimura's hard gaze on him. He might be glaring, Tezuka was not sure, and for a moment, Tezuka thought Yukimura would chastise Syusuke for that.

But he only said, "Let's get you to your room."

./.

Seiichi, for some reason Syusuke did not know, was keeping him as far as humanly possible away from Kunimitsu.

He was still running on the happiness of being alive, of knowing he was with them and they were alive, too. Syusuke did not know exactly what his father did, but he knew his father was the one who did it, and he was alive because of it. He was grateful for it, and to Yuuta, too, even though he said he would heal Syusuke only once.

He spent a moment thinking about his family. He would always miss them, always feel the sadness brought about by their absence, but what he told Maihara Chizuru was true. He knew he would be with them someday, he knew it was only a matter of time, but until then, he'd live a life they would be proud of, and be happy for them, because he knew that was what they wanted.

He smiled as they reached his door and Seiichi kissed his forehead, before, almost unwillingly, moving away for Kunimitsu.

"Kunimit-" But they were kissing again, and even though he suspected Kunimitsu was doing this just to spite Seiichi, he kissed back, because not a few moments ago, he had thought he could never have this again.

They broke off panting once again, and he could blearily see Seiichi glaring. "I..." But Kunimitsu was spreading butterfly kisses all over his face and neck and he forgot what he was about to say altogether. And where he was. And who was with them. And he was about to press closer when shadows formed a sturdy wall against them, flinging Kunimitsu back fiercely.

Seiichi was smiling. "Get some rest. I'll make sure you won't get disturbed tonight." His gaze slid to Kunimitsu as he said it, and Syusuke had to wonder what _that_ meant.

But Syusuke did not want to be alone. Not after everything. He did not want to go back to sleep and dream those nightmares, and wake up, half-convinced that Seiichi and Kunimitsu and everyone else were gone and he was alone again and he couldn't do anything about it.

His hand shot out before he even realized what he was doing. "_Stay_," he said, pleadingly tightening his grip on Kunimitsu's wrist. "Please."

Kunimitsu's gaze slid to Seiichi's, and they were quiet for a very long while, but eventually, Seiichi sighed.

"Fine," he said, nodding at Syusuke. "But I don't want anything funny going on, is that clear?"

Seiichi turned to Kunimitsu and glared. "Do you hear me? No sex."

Syusuke blushed bright red and ducked his head. "Seiichi..." He felt like he was whining, but he didn't really care. It's not as if he was thinking about... well... _that_.

"Syusuke," Seiichi said firmly. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be _holding hands_ with anyone until you're eighty."

Okay, _that_ was pushing it. He raised his head and attempted a weak glare, that Seiichi returned with a smile.

"Good night, Syusuke," he said, before he stalked off and was gone.

Syusuke looked up to Kunimitsu. "He didn't really mean that, did he?"

Kunimitsu gave him an assessing stare. "I kind of agree with him, actually," he said dryly, looking, for all the world, as if he was serious.

Syusuke scowled, and punched him on the side. "Fine," he said, flinging the door to his room open. "Sleep in _your_ room tonight." Some smartass bastards. What did they think, that he was some weak girl? No holding hands until he was eighty, huh? Well, they could just-

But his train of thought was cut off when Kunimitsu followed him inside before he could shut the door, closed the door himself and pushed him towards it, claiming his lips for a fervent kiss again.

He smiled when they broke off. "I thought I was supposed to wait until I'm eighty?"

Kunimitsu leaned his forehead against his and smiled. "This is different," he breathed. "I love you."

Syusuke's heart suddenly felt very full, and his eyes filled with tears he would not shed. He raised up a hand and ran it through Kunimitsu's locks, to his cheeks down to his neck until it settled on his chest. He could feel Kunimitsu's beating hert through his clothes, and though he smelled of battle and death, he was the Kunimitsu that Syusuke loved. He moved his hand away and pressed a kiss to Kunimitsu's chest, over his heart. "I love you, too."

And they were kissing again, their bodies pressed against each other, melded together as if there was nothing between them both.

They have been through so much these past few days. It had felt like forever, and Syusuke had been sure he was going to die. But he didn't, and neither did Kunimitsu, and they were here, _now, _together they way they had wanted to be together for a long time. There was no holding back. There was only him, Kunimitsu and the promise of the future they had together.

And piece by piece, little by little, Syusuke felt his entire world fall into place.

* * *

><p><em>"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade<em>

_When in eternal lines to time thou growest_

_So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,_

_So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."_

_-Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare_

* * *

><p><em>Fin <em>

_~17-04-12~_

* * *

><p>Clary: DO YOU GUYS WANT THE EPILOGUE PUT UP, COZ I'LL PUT IT UP ONLY IF YOU GUYS WANT IT PUT UP (I think.. If I'm on the mood, I'll just put it up anyway.. Wahahaha~).<p>

Lia: Though I think it's only fair to warn you that Clary was on crack when she was writing the epilogue, so... Well, you know where to go from there.

Clary: But Yuki and Sanada are practically BEGGING for a fanservice! They NEED a fanservice! They're right up there in the POT-must-be-canon pairings with Tefu... And I've been ignoring them for most of my story!

Lia: You've ignored them for all of the story, actually.

Clary: SEE?

Lia: I don't get your point in this. Their 'fanservice' as you so blandly put it was even only a small part of the-

Clary: A fanservice is a fanservice! Sheesh, Lia.

Lia: Sure, if you say so.

Clary: This is the last time I'll be doing this for this story (or second to the last, depending on whether or not I'm posting the epilogue) so please, with puppy dog eyes and a cherry on top, review? Imma give hugs I learned from that panda in Ocean Park to those who do. Wahaha~


	23. XX Epilogue

**WARNINGS (from Lia): **This is a crack chapter. Anyone who does not want to read crack, just please ignore this update. PLEASE. I am not even exaggerating when I say it's full of crack, it's practically DRIPPING with it. I think Clary might have intended this for April Fools or something, IT'S THAT CRACK-Y. She was high when she wrote it and the Yuki-Sanada 'fanservice' only comes up at the very end, but she insists that fanservices are fanservices, no matter how small. She's the author, so who am I to complain?

Lia: I WAS AGAINST THIS. And that is all I will say before we get barraged with hate mail because this chapter is crack.

Clary: Mou, that's mean. There's a fanservice at the end, so it's not TOTALLY crack. –sticks out tongue-

But even though Lia insists on warning you guys away, to those who STILL want to read it, we hope you guys enjoy~

(PS: I actually really thought Lia could fix this chapter's crackiness...)

Lia: -sigh- I'm just your editor, Clary, not your miracle worker.

**DEATH PLAY**

Written by: Clary~

Acknowledgements to: EVERYONE WHO'S STAYED WITH US TIL THE VERY END~ Guess what? This is the first story EVER that I finished and I want you guys to know it's all thanks to you~~~ I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! –hearts-

Super thanks to:

Alatarielf: Maa~~ Thanks so much~~~~~~ -tears- We love you too! So much~~ Thanks for walking this journey with us, we never would have finished this without you, ne? You've become very much a friend to us :) And we hope we don't disappoint you with this crack-y epilogue... ("Now I feel bad" –Clary; "Well, you should" -Lia) Also~ We're working on a new project right now actually (still Tefu, because we love them very much)~ -sheepish smile- The plot's been set (sort of) and the prologue's finished and edited, and we might be posting it when we get as far as five chapters... (We don't feel good about posting a story when we only have the prologue down... But we'll try hard for you!) We'll do our very, very best, so it's worth your acclaimed time and energy~

lemon-and-chai: Arigato~~~~ We're so happy you liked our story even though we're still really amateur-ish... ;) Yes, the bells are from Abhorsen, though Azrael isn't the name of the last bell... Because we really did take Azrael from the name of the angel of death ("Lia actually had me research like five different angel guide websites so we're completely sure... She can be REALLY scary sometimes... –shudder-" –Clary) We hope you enjoy this epilogue, even though it's crack ("Now I feel REALLY REALLY bad" -Clary) Lia says if you want to skip the crack and go on right ahead to the (short) Yuki-Sanada fanservice, it's at the end :) Oh, ore-sama appears at the beginning, though, but it's crack so... :)

* * *

><p><strong>XX. EPILOGUE<strong>

* * *

><p>Syusuke lost his virginity that night.<p>

They hadn't meant to, honest. Syusuke merely remembered being drunk on happiness, giddy with relief, and the ecstacy on the prospect of being free to love and be loved by Kunimitsu.

No more excuses, no more hiding, no more nights lying down beside Kunimitsu, pretending that everything was normal but wishing he could do and have so much more.

And Kunimitsu had been happy, too. He'd been smiling for real, a genuine smile that made Syusuke breathless with awe. And Kunimitsu kept on saying he was beautiful, but he'd obviously not looked at the mirror lately.

They'd only been kissing... And... touching... a little. Just kissing on the bed, kissing and kissing and one kiss led to another and another, and another...

And then, kissing led to more touching, and undressing and...

Yes.

So he lost his... yes. (He was still uncomfortable thinking of it _that_ way. He didn't regret anything, it was the best thing that had ever happened to him yet, but the _word_ and thinking about it _that_ way almost made him sound a lot like Keigo. _God forbid_.)

The morning after, Syusuke had woken up in Kunimitsu's arms, smiled up at him and greeted him good morning. Kunimitsu had responded with a kiss.

And then the kissing led to touching, and more touching, and tangling in the sheets, and...

Yes.

So the morning after, though he had nothing to lose, he and Kunimitsu... yes. (Still an uncomfortable topic.)

It didn't help at all that Keigo had smirked when he came down to the breakfast table, looking gloriously knowing and smug. Kunimitsu hadn't come down yet, because they had mutually agreed (without even _speaking_ about it) that in no way were they sharing their... yes... to anyone.

Most especially not to Keigo.

But Keigo had smirked, and Syusuke barely had enough time to sit down before Keigo had asked, and in a conspiratorial tone that made it sound like he was about to hear the scandal of the century, "So, how was he?"

Syusuke blinked. "How was who what?"

"Come now, Syusuke, you can't lie to ore-sama," Keigo said, inspecting his nails. "I know what you did last night."

"Well, that's... smart of you," Syusuke replied haltingly. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod. How did he _know_? He couldn't have, or he would have gloated already. He was just smirking and smiling smugly, but there was no gloating, so that meant he didn't know, right?

Just smile. And pretend to be normal. Yes. When in doubt, smile. "That's nice of you to know I was sleeping last night."

Not a lie, because, technically, he _had_ been sleeping some last night. So, yes, he was sleeping last night, and he was telling the truth.

He just wasn't telling Keigo everything.

"Syusuke, don't act dumb," Keigo purred, sidling up to him, and sniffing his hair. Syusuke flinched away. "You smell like sex."

This time, Syusuke scrambled away from him so fast, he almost fell down the chair. He _smelled_ like _sex_? How can a person smell like _sex_? He can't possibly smell like _sex_, sex didn't have a scent, did it? Not that he knew of. Sex was a verb. Like, I-had-sex-with-Kunimitsu-last-night-and-this-morning (wistful, dreamy sigh) kind of verb. And even if it did, he just took a bath. (His shampoo was apple-scented!)

"I... do?" He responded intelligently.

"Distinctly like sex," Keigo nodded, self-assured, with his usual cocky smile. "So, how was he?"

Syusuke shrank away from Keigo and wished someone else would come _right now_ and spare him the interrogation. _Please_. Because even though he loved every single minute of every single intimate thing he did with Kunimitsu, he was not comfortable sharing. He wasn't Keigo. Who, by the way, looked like he was having a field day.

"Idon'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout," Syusuke muttered all in one breath so his words mashed together. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, coloring his face, making it obvious that he, in fact, _did_ know what Keigo was talking about, and that he was lying through his teeth.

"Of course you do. Come on, and tell ore-sama."

"I... It... See, it was..." Syusuke determinedly stared at the wall behind Keigo, his face still flaming. It was highly unlikely that Keigo would ever stop unless he gave up something so... "It was magical." He allowed himself a dreamy smile.

"_Magical_?" a different voice asked, with a cold edge that could successfully scare everyone. Syusuke, more than anyone right now.

My god, it just got a hell lot worse.

"Yes, magical, bitch," Keigo replied, and Syusuke could almost see Keigo's feathers ruffling. "Let's try to keep up."

"Was I talking to you, brat?" Seiichi's hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed. "It's just like mindless brats like you to butt into conversations that don't include you."

"Butt _into_ conversations? Ore-sama is _in_ this conversation! Ore-sama is in _every_ conversation! Ore-sama is too good not to. _You_ butt in conversations!"

"You whine."

"_Ore-sama does not whine!_"

"Brats whine, _Keigo_. You're a brat, and you're whining right now," Seiichi replied with his easy, still dangerous-looking smile. "And Syusuke, please don't sneak off like that, I have not started with you yet."

Syusuke froze from trying to get away, and met Seiichi's sweet happy-looking face.

"What's this I hear about sex?" Seiichi asked his cousin.

"Nothing... Keigo was just..."

"Did you or did you not have sex with Tezuka last night?" (Syusuke made a mental note to yell at Keigo later.)

"I..."

"You did, didn't you?"

"I..." Syusuke focused on the table, and tried to look for a splotch to focus on apart from this conversation. "...Yes," he finally said (whispered).

Seiichi's smile widened considerably, and Syusuke felt like shrinking away into something decidedly small (maybe a pea?) and crawling into a hole under a rock somewhere until Seiichi forgot his anger. There was something infinitely scary about his sweet, closed-eyed smile that even Syusuke had to shudder.

"That _bastard_," Seiichi began, pulling Syusuke to his chest with his suddenly strong grip. "Taking advantage of you like that, and after I expressly forbade him from-"

"Seiichi, it wasn't his fault. I wanted to-"

"And in your moment of weakness, too! What kind of self-respecting boyfriend-" (Who was he kidding, of _course_, Seiichi wouldn't listen. And of _course_, he would have conveniently not heard Syusuke's almost-retort.)

"They're technically lovers now, bitch. Get with the times." (And of _course_, Keigo would jump in and make things worse.)

"_Lovers_?" (It was amazing how Seiichi could look so threatening while smiling so sweetly.)

"Well, yeah. I mean, Tezuka's fu-"

"I warn you, Atobe Keigo. _Don't dare_."

"Tezuka just fucked your cousin," Keigo finished, looking quite pleased with himself (though it probably wouldn't rank on his smarter, more life-preserving moments).

"Oh, _Keigo_." Seiichi's smile looked sickeningly honey-sweet. "_Run_."

./.

In the end, Tezuka had to be there to break up the fight that was going on between Seiichi and Keigo while Senri laughed his head off and Kuranosuke looked like he needed aspirin.

Problem solved.

Except that the moment Seiichi had stopped focusing on trying to wring Keigo's neck, he'd zeroed in on Tezuka.

Which led to this situation.

Situtation being the both of them sitting down on opposite ends of the couch with Seiichi looming over them menacingly, and Keigo smugly guarding the door to his room.

And Seiichi getting ready to give the both of them 'The Talk.'

Only when Seiichi had started talking about 'the eel and the cave,' Keigo had cut in and mocked him because Syusuke 'obviously does not have a cave, it was just like bitches like him to be dumb,' so Seiichi's anger had focused back on Keigo again ("What did you think the –toot- was, you brat?").

Which led to Senri stepping up and pretending-coughing, wearing a doctor's coat of all things. He said that it was his duty to continue where Seiichi was unable, so he cleared his throat and started to talk.

(Seiichi had given them all of one glance, before shadows had crept up to cover Syusuke's ears. All Syusuke heard was the first word of what turned out to be a day-long speech.)

(One word was enough to scar Syusuke for life, though. Senri had cleared his throat and said, "Fucking-")

Afterwards, Kunimitsu had looked just about ready to throw up, Keigo had looked like Christmas had come early, and Seiichi had looked triumphant, muttering something along the lines of "Bastard deserves it."

(Syusuke was almost thankful he didn't hear it. Though Senri had insisted that he had copied the speech off of some pamphlet in the guidance office, which was weird, because why would there be a pamphlet about giving 'The Talk' in the guidance office, and why would a pamphlet in the guidance office's speech start with "Fucking"?)

In the end, it was decided that everybody would stay away from everyone else's 'sex life' (Keigo's words, and though Seiichi had looked rebellious for a moment, he had conceeded, as long as Kunimitsu kept it 'clean'. Syusuke had a hard time processing all they were talking about. Especially since Seiichi covered his ears for more than half of the conversation).

Needless to say, it took a month to get Kunimitsu to look at Syusuke properly again, without blushing or looking uncomfortable.

(All in all, Senri had summarized it to be a 'good meeting.')

./.

Echizen-kun became part of their group, too, after Persona ordered Kunimitsu to train him.

Seiichi had been pleased, because he said that meant Kunimitsu wouldn't spend all of everyday trying to grab at Syusuke, which was silly, because Kunimitsu was a perfect gentleman, as far as his relationship with Kunimitsu was concerned. But of course, Seiichi conveniently does not hear any of it, and declared that he approved of the Kunimitsu-Echizen-kun relationship (Syusuke _refused_ to be jealous).

Echizen-kun started spending breakfasts at their table, too, and Syusuke started to make concentrated efforts at being a good upperclassman to Echizen-kun. Starting with giving Echizen-kun milk. (He could see, more than once, that Echizen-kun actually begrudged his height.)

Echizen-kun initially protested at first ("I'm not a child, I'd rather drink Ponta."), but after much persuasion ("Who are you kidding, you look like a _baby_." – Keigo), they had finally settled on two bottles a day. Only, the persuasion part had seemed to develop a strange, rather antagonistic relationship between Echizen-kun, who called Keigo 'The Monkey King' and Keigo, who called Echizen-kun a brat ("How unoriginal." –Seiichi).

This made Seiichi like Echizen-kun even more, because, well... Syusuke guessed Seiichi just automatically liked people who hated Keigo the way he did.

Well, at least Echizen-kun fit in. (Kunimitsu made no comment about the milk-argument, but told Syusuke thank you that night, because he thought that Echizen-kun had great potential and they need to help him develop it in every way they could.)

Sometimes, Syusuke watched them train. They were so cute, completely focused on their task, completely focused on their training, with Kunimitsu looking adoringly handsome and Echizen-kun looking... well, like Echizen-kun. He brought them snacks on those times, and Kunimitsu would accept with a small smile, while Echizen-kun would sniff them like a cat because he says he'd already learned his lesson the first time he got spicy snacks from 'Fuji-sempai.'

But he ate the snacks, anyway, and downed everything with Ponta (grape, in can, really cold). It astonished Syusuke the sheer amount of Ponta Echizen-kun could consume.

So when Syusuke watched them train, he was ready and armed with sometimes-spicy snacks for Echizen-kun, non-spicy ones for Kunimitsu, and Ponta (grape, in can, really cold).

Once, during breakfast, Keigo had commented, off-handedly, how they very much looked like a family. Kunimitsu had glared, Syusuke had blushed and Echizen-kun had choked on his Ponta. Of course, Keigo had looked victorious, and had happily outlined how Kuni-daddy, Syu-mommy and Ryo-baby would live happily ever after in whatever happy little cottage they decided to live in.

And had only stopped when he noticed Seiichi's decidedly frightening glare upon hearing about Kuni-daddy, Syu-mommy and Ryo-baby.

From that day onwards, Seiichi started liking Echizen-kun less.

./.

All in all, it was one big, dysfunctional, happy-ever-after.

There was fighting, more often than not, though Yukimura had chalked it up to Atobe Keigo's incessant brattiness. But at least, Syusuke looked like he couldn't be any happier. And proceeded to falsify the fact by looking even happier the next day.

That, Yukimura had decided a long time ago, was how Syusuke was meant to look like.

And even though there were fights, and Yukimura still distinctly disapproved of Tezuka (and their newly-created family with Echizen... it was just too bad, really, Yukimura had liked the kid), he was glad that things were better than how they were a few years ago, when Syusuke was slowly dying from a love he didn't even know he had.

Classes were slow, but it was a welcome thing, because it meant that they were all still alive to have them, and it was more than Yukimura could have ever hoped for.

Besides, he enjoyed English, and was satisfied that it was his first period for the day.

He smiled at the chirping birds outside his window. It was peaceful now, and the days of happiness stretched onwards and onwards into forever.

"...have a new student for today," he heard the teacher say. He turned his gaze towards the front of the room, his brows raised. It was nearing the end of the year, but it was just like the Academy to accept students like that.

Maybe this new student was even a Dangerous-Ability type. But he doubted it. Persona had mentioned nothing, after all.

"Enter, please."

"Ah."

The door slid open and suddenly, Yukimura's world stopped.

Just... stopped.

Once, Yukimura had asked Syusuke why. He knew it was pointless to, but he had to ask, he had to know why. Syusuke had just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

And he'd said, "_You just know, I guess. I knew unconsciously, but I still knew._" And he laughed and hugged Yukimura blissfully, looking satisfied and content. "_When the time comes, Seiichi would know, too_."

"My name is Sanada Genichirou." _His name was Sanada Genichirou_. "Pleased to meet you."

And maybe it had been Yukimura's imagination, but during that last part, the part where _Sanada Genichirou_ said 'pleased to meet you,' he'd been looking right at Yukimura.

And Yukimura looked back.

"_When the time comes, Seiichi will know, too._"

Yukimura had doubted it then, but that felt like years ago to now, to the present. Syusuke was right, he didn't know what had possessed him to doubt Syusuke, Syusuke had only ever been right.

Because when he looked right into Sanada Genichirou's eyes and drowned in their depths, he lost the ability to string his thoughts together, to think straight in the usual way he thought. And he didn't care.

Of course Syusuke would be right. Unconsciously or consciously, you just know. And right at the moment, Yukimura knew.

_I know_.

"Pleased to meet you, too," Yukimura murmured, looking straight at his eyes.

And maybe it was just his imagination working at overdrive again, or maybe it was his foolish heart thumping away in his chest, but Sanada Genichirou's eyes had crinkled into an almost-smile that made Yukimura feel as if he was flying.

Because it was almost as if he was telling Yukimura that he knew, too.

They both knew.

And it was magical.

* * *

><p><em>REALLY Fin ;)<em>

* * *

><p>Clary: I fail at humor.<p>

Lia: It's a good thing you know. I thought I was going to have to remind you again or something.

Clary: You don't have to be so mean about it, bitch! –turns to readers- If you guys are wondering, Lia had me sensor that word in this sentence "What did you think the –toot- was, you brat?" because we thought it might be too much for T-ratings... (You guys probably figured it out, but we sensored asshole, and I'm placing it here and it's okay, because it is not within that sentence, bwahahahaha...)

Lia: Forgive her crudeness. I'm still hoping she'll someday grow out of it.

Clary: Huh. And how did that go for you, Lia?

Lia: Utter disappointment, thank you very much.

Clary: Wahahahahaha~ Maa, this might be a bit selfish of me, but please review? Even if you just review to tell me you hate me for this crack chapter :)

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS AND THE FAVORITES AND THE ALERTS AND THE SUPPORT YOU GUYS~ THIS STORY WOULD NOT HAVE FINISHED OTHERWISE~ Lia and I love you guys very, very much –hearts-


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